gay men could meet. The Liverpool News Theatre on Clayton Square and Tatler News Theatre on Church Street were known in gay circles as a meeting place for sex. Closer to the bars, the Playhouse Theatre also had a strong gay element and the gay community would often mix with members of the cast. The cottaging culture was still very much prominent, with several public toilets identified as hotspots for homosexual activity. Public conveniences dotted around Liverpool City Centre had earned themselves nicknames, the 'Wheel of Fortune' and the 'Garden of Allah' amongst some of the titles. Married men would visit regularly after work, recommend busy areas to other men and found themselves dodging undercover police officers who set out to entrap those participating in sexual acts, many were caught and arrested. In the early fifties, the Army and Navy store on Byrom Street employed a lot of men who had served time in prison for these crimes. With their reputations damaged, many had been unable to find work elsewhere. Few places for lesbians existed by the early sixties and they were to a larger extent less obvious in public. Lesbians and gay men had their own separate networks and often did not socialise together with women preferring to meet up in houses. Shortly after the Wolfenden report of 1957 and the beginnings of the Gay liberation movement, articles about homosexuality began to appear in the Liverpool University Guild Gazette. The language and tone was still largely negative with terminology such as 'queer', 'sodomite', 'perversion' and 'illness' still in use in reference to homosexuality. 1970s The 60s saw the Campaign for Homosexual Equality formed and by the early 70s the Liverpool branch had formed their own gay society at Liverpool University. The society championed gay rights, organised events, meetings, and published pieces in the university's newspaper to challenge stereotypes and myths about gay people. At national conferences and protests, the society helped to influence the national student debate surrounding sexuality. By 1975, most of the bars that had provided a safe haven for so long around Queen Square had been demolished to make way for the new St. John's Shopping Centre, Roe Street Gyratory and bus station. The Bar Royal on Wood Street had become the 'place to be'. Guests there were heavily vetted on arrival by its owner Sadie and the main door was bolted as people entered. The