Marlene Dietrich said, 'I do not
think we have a right to happiness. If happiness happens, say thanks'. As much
as I love you, I totally disagree, sorry Marlene!
We all deserve happiness, don't
we? We weren't just put on this earth to work ourselves to death, ensuring
large profits for fat cats who pay lip service when it comes to caring about
our welfare!
As I write this I hear Maggie
Thatcher's voice booming out with her ''children who need to be taught
traditional moral values are being taught they have an inalienable right to be
gay''. You were right in one thing, Thatcher, children were being ''cheated of
a sound start in life- yes cheated''. You made sure of that with your
homophobic Section 28. You made sure that I was a confused teenager and that
this confusion went into my 20s...even late 20s... You made sure that I was so
confused at not being interested in boys when the other kids would talk about
who they had kissed and who they fancied. You made me hide when the first
lesbian kiss was shown on TV when I was 15... Hide because I liked it and I
felt shy about liking it and I didn't want my parents or friends to know,
because what was this life? Was it even an ''option''? I didn't know. I
couldn't comprehend it. I knew I was different to most, which is probably why I
was bullied throughout school. No one talked about the prospect of gay
relationships. Sex education focussed on not getting pregnant and not catching
aids (the less said about the awful aids advert with the big rock, the better!)
and STIs. It didn't tell us that we had the right to find true love and that
love is love no matter what.
The light didn't ping for me
until I was 28, and by that time I had gone down society's expected norm and
got married to a man...even though I knew, when I was walking down the aisle
(and in the run up), that it wasn't right. But why wasn't it right? I continued
to cause arguments just so that he would sleep in another bed to me. I didn't
want to be touched by him in any way. I didn't know why. I just knew that I
didn't want sex with him or even affection. Just 6 months to a year
later, I developed a crush, and although nothing happened, I am ever so
grateful to her, and it was a genuine lightbulb moment. Ah-ha! That is what it
is! Ok, so what to do now? I had no clue. Yes, we had the internet but it isn't
like it is now (I mean Section 28 was only repealed in 2003..and we still saw
headlines of the likes of ''gay judge..'' like his sexuality had anything to do
with his job!). I found a site called, 'Gaydar Girls', just to chat to other
women and I ordered three dvds- Sugar Rush (a whole series set in Brighton
about a lesbian), Imagine Me and You, and Kissing Jessica Stein. I quickly had
two dates with women lined up. I knew that I preferred older but one of them
was younger and convinced me to meet her. By this time I was almost 30 and she
turned out to have lied about her age and was only 24. We had a nice evening
out but I told her that it wouldn't work. The day after, I had a date with a
human rights lawyer; I will call her Diane for the purposes of this blog, who
was 11 years older. The first date was in The Shakespeare's Head in Soho, not
far from where I was working. It seemed to go very well. We agreed on a second
date- a sushi restaurant in Hampstead, apparently not far from where Diane
lived. This date was the total opposite of the first. She cried on my shoulder
about a woman she was in love with but who was married to a man and the woman
loved her but she wasn't sure what the future held etc. Then she spoke about
money a lot. And for someone who was a human rights lawyer it jarred!
Especially when she pointed out her little blue car later and then said, ''I
have another one at home. It's a (can't remember, but a posh one)... but I
don't drive it often as people stare.'' I knew then that she wasn't for me, and
just add that I clearly wasn't for her as not long after the woman she was
crying over, let’s call her Kate, left her husband and moved in with Diane and
her daughter.
But how did I fit into this gay
and lesbian world..? When I went to a gay bar or two with one of my good (but
straight) friends, I just didn't feel like I fitted. It smelled and I didn't
look anything like the women in there... I joined another couple of dating
sites and met a woman who became my first girlfriend. Realising you are gay
later in life, for me, was like being a teenager again and I guess that I got
caught up in it all that I ignored all of the red flags and ended up in a
relationship with a bully- a narcissist who also became physically violent,
regularly, from about 12 months in. The verbal stuff started about 6 months in.
It took me till 2012 to get out of that house and that relationship. London is
an expensive place and I just didn't have enough money for a month's rent in
advance plus a deposit...then I got a particular job, which I say saved my
life, as her violence had continued to get worse, as my first pay packet
enabled me to move and rent a room in a woman's flat- even if it did take all
of my pay!
I escaped that relationship
largely unscathed- or so I thought, anyway. Until about a year later, having
moved back up north six months after leaving her- due to my landlady turning the
flat into a Chinese warehouse (that's another story!), when I had, what I later
realised, was a panic attack in the middle of Home Sense in The Arndale.
I had a lot of interest from
women but I preferred to be alone for a while. I have never been one of those
who have to be with someone as lovely as it is when you are with someone who
truly cares. Later, I began a relationship with a friend (we had shared a kiss
a few years earlier but neither of us thought the other was interested- again
women and not wanting to speak up. That is another story) and by this time it
was a long distance relationship due to her still being in London and then
moving back to Ireland, due to her long term illness. It didn't last long as
due to her debilitating illness and disability, she didn't feel she could
commit to a relationship now that she couldn't really travel any more. It's all
good though, after a brief fall out because she chose to email me instead of
speaking to me when I had only just come back from spending a week with her, we
are friends these days, once again. After this, I chose to have another break
from women and dating. Then I ''saw'' someone for a few months but it was never
proper, before beginning on the dating apps and meeting a myriad of strange
(not in a good way) women, including one who was a scary stalker.. The whole of
that year was like a comedy show. Some of the things that I could write here
(another time!) would make you wonder if it was fiction! Trust me, it's all
true and for an actor and a creative, it's excellent material! Dating has never
been easy, of course it hasn't. I'm sure that many would agree. And now I find
myself in another difficult situation, and for once in my life I am following
my heart and allowing it to guide me on my next journey to happiness and
contentment. I am putting myself first. So yeah, Marlene, I am afraid that I do
disagree. We all have a right to experience happiness, for as long as it lasts,
which we all hope will be forever.
So there you have it. Not as light-hearted
as usual, but I hope just as intriguing!
Love a Real Northern Hermia x