{"product_id":"the-light-of-day-the-first-man-to-come-out-at-the-dawn-of-gay-liberation-9781035421527","title":"The Light of Day: The First Man to Come Out at the Dawn of Gay Liberation","description":"\u003cb\u003e'Your book is the \"really good book. Just one\" that Roger Butler would have wanted' - Sir Ian McKellen\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Absorbing and often very moving' - Peter Parker, \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Sir, we are homosexuals . . .'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e So began the letter penned by Roger Butler and sent to several British newspaper editors - some of whom were so shocked they thought it was a hoax - in June 1960. Writing such a letter seven years before the decriminalisation of homosexuality was a radical and dangerous move. \u003cb\u003eIt was a risk that set a major milestone in the fight for gay rights - one that has been almost entirely forgotten.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis is the story of the first man to come out voluntarily, using his own name, to the entire British public\u003c\/b\u003e, a decade before activists started petitioning gay people everywhere to 'come out proud'. Taking us through a criminalised underworld of gay pubs, parties and activist meetings, \u003ci\u003eThe Light of Day\u003c\/i\u003e charts how Roger helped bring about the legalisation of homosexuality, but soon found himself marginalised from the movement he kickstarted after losing his sight in his early 30s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Enter Christopher - a student asked to visit and read to an old, blind man at the beginning of a new century. As their intergenerational friendship bloomed, Roger came to trust Christopher with his most precious possession: memoirs of his revolutionary past, locked away in his home. After Roger's death, Christopher opened a series of unsent letters, left in a pink folder, addressed to him. They contained Roger's final wish, for Christopher finally to bring his remarkable, hidden story into the light of day. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003eRemarkable . . . a splendidly sprawling part biography, part autobiography, part history and part social commentary . . . the result, a true account, benefits greatly from a lightness, a candour untethered to any agenda or argument' -\u003ci\u003e Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Faithfully and beautifully told' - \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Headline\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781035421527\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400","brand":"Louise Radnofsky,Christopher Stephens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51990954148021,"sku":"9781035421527","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_f6bb1e50-2848-4bdd-a2de-69702190317b.jpg?v=1762838479","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-light-of-day-the-first-man-to-come-out-at-the-dawn-of-gay-liberation-9781035421527","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}