A boy from Limehouse learns to disappear to survive. Decades later, he chooses the opposite—and everything changes. Michael Cashman joins us for a vivid, unflinching journey from dockside childhood to EastEnders fame, from the terror and tenderness of the AIDS years to the kitchen-table founding of Stonewall. He shares how art, politics and everyday compassion forged a life of showing up when silence was safer.

Michael dissects the tabloid machine, Thatcher-era fearmongering, and the “double helix of hatred” that braided homophobia with AIDS panic. Then he walks us through Section 28: the strategy behind inserting “intentionally,” the coalition that grew beyond identity, and how a law designed to erase visibility sparked a generation to come out and organise.

From living rooms stacked with wine racks to a one-night revival of Bent that funded a movement, we trace how Stonewall took shape and why rights remain fragile without relentless solidarity. Michael is clear: equality means the right to opt in or out—and it strengthens everyone’s freedoms. We close with a call to reject complacency, stand with trans people and migrants, and demand politics that allows honesty, course-correction and courage.

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This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

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