My friend Alan Wakeman, who has died aged 79, was a leading light in the Gay Liberation Front during the 1970s, a well-known character in Soho, London, and a writer who was responsible for producing one of the first vegan cookbooks.
I met Alan 44 years ago when, with others, we travelled to Burnley to protest about the shelving of plans to build a social facility for isolated gay people in the town. Alan had a rough time of it in 50s Britain. Beaten up by his father at 17 for telling his mother he thought he was “one of those unfortunate people attracted to their own sex”, he also had to endure regular taunts from fellow RAF Signals crewmen during national service and, by 21, feeling himself a pariah, attempted suicide. After that, however, he turned things around dramatically.
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