
At an all boys school we were usually known to the teaching staff (and often to one another) by our surnames, and that is how I always thought of Dolliman. His first name was, in fact, Martin but was cruelly known to everybody as `Dolly’ He was the only openly gay boy in my year at school. I knew that there were other gay boys, myself included, but we didn’t exactly advertise the fact. Dolly, however, was about as girlie as you could get; limp-wristed,with a mincing walk and affected lisping; you name it, and he did it. Long dyed blond hair, painted nails, dangling earrings (but not in school), you name it, he had it. I was sure that he only did it for attention, but the trouble was he got all the wrong kind of attention. He was spurned by his peers, made fun of by the younger boys and spat upon (and worse) by the older ones. He also attracted the attention of the wrong sort of gay guys who treated him like a slut because he dressed like one. If there was one boy in the school that every boy and every teacher recognised, it was Dolly.



















