Homophob Who Were Secretly Gay: From FBI Boss J. Edgar Hoover to Chistian TV Preacher Ted Haggard

Contents:

• NICKY CRANE: THE SECRET DOUBLE LIFE OF A GAY NEO-NAZI
• THE BAD GAY: NICKY CRANE, THE GAY NAZI
• HOMOPHOB WHO WERE SECRETLY GAY: FROM FBI BOSS J. EDGAR HOOVER TO CHISTIAN TV PREACHER TED HAGGARD
• GAY HISTORY: A CONTRADICTN TERMS; NICKY CRANE, AND KEV WILSHAW- GAY NEO-NAZI’S. PART 1.
• GAY HISTORY: A CONTRADICTN TERMS; NICKY CRANE, AND KEV WILSHAW- GAY NEO-NAZI’S. PART 2.
• NICKY CRANE - THE LIFE OF A GAY NAZI SK HEAD

NICKY CRANE: THE SECRET DOUBLE LIFE OF A GAY NEO-NAZI

His room looked out across London's gay village - the bars and nightclubs where he worked as a doorman, where he drank and danced.

Unbeknown to his ras, however, a very different si to Nicky Crane was was a Thursday night at Heaven, a gay nightclub below London's Charg Cross statn. "Image source, Getty ImagHe appears to have thrown himself enthiastilly to the gay scene around this time.

His imposg ame meant he easily found work as a doorman at gay venu through a secury if the neo-Nazi world would have abhorred his sexualy, the vast majory of London's gay scene would have been equally horrified to learn that he was a the learship of the largely liberal-left gay rights movement that was growg London durg the 1980s, fascist symbolism was an obv and outrageo taboo - a remr of the persecutn that lbians and gay men had suffered. Acrdg to femist scholar Sheila Jefeys' book The Lbian Hery, a motn unfold 1984 when a group of gay skheads turned up at a gay bar London's Kg's Cross and began sieg heilg. A huge row epted the followg year at the London Lbian and Gay Centre Kg's Cross when a gay skhead night was held at the venue.

THE BAD GAY: NICKY CRANE, THE GAY NAZI

But appears that, at least ially, he was able to flect qutns about his polics by prentg himself on the gay scene as a skhead first and iend Byrne, who scrib himself as "sort of more a Labour person", had no time for the far-right element that had filtrated the skhead Byrne was nvced at the time that Crane "wasn't really a Nazi. The softly spoken Nicky he knew was too nice to be an extremist, Byrne wasn't as fanciful as might the mid-1980s, a gay skhead scene was begng to flourish London, says Murray Healy, thor of Gay Sks: Class, Masculy and Queer men had many different reasons for adoptg the look, he says. Others found that, an era when all gay men were wily assumed to be mp and effemate, "you were ls likely to get picked on if you looked like a queer-basher".

Durg the 1980s, says Healy, "gay Nazis were assumed to be left-wg even if they had Nazi tattoos". "Image source, Gav WatsonOn the surface, the ia of a gay man embracg neo-Nazism might appear bafflg and self-featg.

Jt as Adolf Hler's regime had thrown gays and lbians to ath mps, the neo-Nazi movement remaed stnchly was beg all too aware of the ntradictn of beg a gay neo-Nazi. "A lot of people that I did ed to hang around wh, they did sort of like hate , " he said 1992 - "" meang gay men.

HOMOPHOB WHO WERE SECRETLY GAY: FROM FBI BOSS J. EDGAR HOOVER TO CHISTIAN TV PREACHER TED HAGGARD

"Certaly, after g out, Crane always scribed himself as gay rather than bisexual.

"Even a neo-Nazi dience might have been aware that Heaven was at this pot London's premier gay club. Firstly, homosexualy was libly associated wh effemacy by the far right, and Crane was the very oppose of effemate. "Rumours circulated that a proment football hooligan and far-right activist had hurled a homophobic slur at Crane, who rponse had flicted a severe beatg which the victim was lucky to of this spread among the skhead aterny, too.

GAY HISTORY: A CONTRADICTN TERMS; NICKY CRANE, AND KEV WILSHAW- GAY NEO-NAZI’S. PART 1.

"Jt as some the gay muny refed to believe that a gay man uld be a neo-Nazi, others on the extreme right were unable to acknowledge that a neo-Nazi uld be a gay 1987 Crane and Donaldson set up a group lled Blood & Honour. Searchlight reported October 1987 that "Crane, the right's ft example of a clil psychopath, is also engaged buildg a 'gay sks' movement, which meets on Friday nights" at a pub east 's sexualy might by now have been obv to any terted onlooker, but the neo-Nazi scene remaed nial.

"The gay muny had, by this stage, begun to take notice of Crane, too. He was nonted by anti-fascists attendg a Pri rally Kenngton, south London, mpaigner Peter Tatchell rells a row eptg after emerged Crane had been allowed to steward a gay rights march.

But now they were, and Crane mt have realised he would no longer be wele much of gay London. The gay skhead night may simply have been an attempt to rve out a space for himself where he would not be challenged eher for his sexualy or his his stat the far right was secure, he was beg phed to the g of the gay muny. Was released, be London, he appeared a seri of skhead-themed amatr gay porn vios.

GAY HISTORY: A CONTRADICTN TERMS; NICKY CRANE, AND KEV WILSHAW- GAY NEO-NAZI’S. PART 2.

The episo broadst on 27 July 1992 was about the gay skhead subculture. Its star attractn was Nicky the programme showed rerd terviews wh an unwtg Donaldson, who sound baffled that such a thg as gay skheads existed, and NF lear Patrick then the mera cut to Crane, mouflage gear and Dr Martens boots, his Soho ptn, Nicky Crane terviewed the 1990s for a Channel 4 documentaryHe told the terviewer how he'd known he was gay back his early BM days. He scribed how his worship of Hler had given way to unease about the far right's homophobia.

He had started to feel like a hypocre bee the Nazi movement was so anti-gay, he said. "Nicky didn't jt e out as a homosexual, he beme antly opposed to what he prevly believed .

The e of ath was given on his ath certifite as bronchopnmonia, a fatal flammatn of the air passag to the was a victim of the disease that had killed so many other young gay men of his generatn. "By ntrast, the prence of skheads gay clubs and bars was no longer ntroversial. Shorn of s polil associatns, the look was by now, if anythg, more popular London's Old Compton Street or Manchter's Canal Street than on football terrac or far-right s after Crane's ath, says Healy, the skhead is "regnised as a gay man unambiguoly London and Manchter".

NICKY CRANE - THE LIFE OF A GAY NAZI SK HEAD

"He may be an extreme se, but Crane reflects an era which people's expectatns of what a gay man looked and behaved like began to shift. "Everybody always knew gay people, but they jt didn't know , " says Max Schaefer, whose 2010 novel Children of the Sun featur a character fascated by Crane.