Photo of Elton JOHN; His first publicity photos, taken on Hampstead Heath, UK. Just finished first record, January 22, 1968 (Photo by Val Wilmer/Redferns)

by Andrew Blade, co-Author: Dr. Brand Doubell

I was born in 1967. I have many gay friends that were born in the same era. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. The best because it was the year in which Elvis Presley and Priscilla got married, Elton John and Bernie Taupin started working together as songwriting partners, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd released their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The worst because France launched their first nuclear submarine, the People's Republic of China shot down United States planes violating its airspace, an Egyptian surface-to-surface missile sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat and Israel retaliated by bombing Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal. In short, it was a year like all others, but those of us who were born in that time struggled much more to come out than those who were born 25 years later.

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