At a time when homosexual relationships were illegal, many gay men escaped persecution by joining the merchant navy.

"There was a fascinating gay culture on ships which was very different from life on shore" says Dr Jo Stanley, co-author of "Hello Sailor: The Hidden History of Gay Life at Sea". "For a camp man a place such as the dining saloon was his stage". The exhibition runs until March 2007 at the Merseyside Museum, Liverpool, Merseyside. Meanwhile Dr Stanley's book is available from all good independent and progressive bookstores.