Erasure, ‘Hideaway’ (Little Louie Vega Mix)’.

To mark LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari asked its contributors to recall a song that had an impact their own stories.

“This is my rebellion, finally found! It’s my revolution and my birth into adulthood. I rest in the back of the car with heightened anticipation.”

Queer as Folk, by David Robson.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari is publishing a daily series of LGBT Heroes, selected by the magazine’s team of writers and special contributors.

“Queer as Folk was more than a piece of television to me and it remains so. I was a confused boy looking for some direction and meaning. It provided me with the knowledge that there was something else out there for someone who wanted to break the family mould.”

Kenneth Allott, by Daniel Milford-Cottam.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari is publishing a daily series of LGBT Heroes, selected by the magazine’s team of writers and special contributors.

“I was realising that I was not like other people, yet barely understood what “gay” was. Only Allott seemed to empathise, and he spoke in riddles.”

No Doubt, ‘Sunday Morning’.

To mark LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari asked its contributors to recall a song that had an impact their own stories.

“No Doubt were a hot breath of peppy, poppy, Californian ska-punk, into my very grey and deliberately unobtrusive existence. Bright, unabashedly straightforward, jumpy-up-and-downy fun with the obligatory ‘life’s tough’ lyrics and hook-laden bounciness.”

Kate Hutton, by Christopher Bryant.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari is publishing a daily series of LGBT Heroes, selected by the magazine’s team of writers and special contributors.

“In 1984, Hutton gave a tour of the seismology lab to the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Scientists, and that is when she came out both personally and professionally.”

Dr. Frank-N-Furter, ‘Sweet Transvestite’.

To mark LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari asked its contributors to recall a song that had an impact their own stories.

“My relationship with Rocky Horror blossomed and developed as I grew and in many ways it knew me before I knew myself.”

Sarah Waters, by BJ Epstein.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari is publishing a daily series of LGBT Heroes, selected by the magazine’s team of writers and special contributors.

“Sarah Waters is a writer who both seems to revel in the “lesbian” label and also manages to cross over into the mainstream at the same time. Her novels are literary texts that just so happen to feature lesbian characters and lesbian lives.”

Stomu Yamash’ta, ‘My Little Partner’.

To mark LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari asked its contributors to recall a song that had an impact their own stories.

“At 10 years old, it genuinely frightened me. Whose it was, how we got it, I didn’t care – I scrabbled to lift the needle so quickly that I dropped it again – this time what I heard made me freeze on the spot.”

Stephen Fry, by Mat Price.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari is publishing a daily series of LGBT Heroes, selected by the magazine’s team of writers and special contributors.

“Throughout my teenage years I looked up to Stephen Fry and he became my role model. I realized I could relate to him as a gay man.”

Mansun, ‘I Can Only Disappoint U’.

To mark LGBT History Month, 2013, Polari asked its contributors to recall a song that had an impact their own stories.

“Sam refused to speak to me for the entire run, despite my role as ‘Virtuoso’, dildo and merkin maker to the King and Queen of Sodom, requiring me to ‘swive’ her onstage nightly.”