I was born in Florence and I guess I have always been gay. I thought there was something wrong with me as I was never attracted to guys but always preferred the company of women. I used to dream of the Charlie’s Angel girls (…especially Kelly, the brunette, for those of you who remember the original series) rescuing me from dangerous situations my vivid 12yrs old brain would create for me.

I had boyfriends of course but they did not stimulate me on any level and I tolerated sex with them (ok I struggled to stay awake - so sue me!). Meanwhile I was secretly in love with all my girl friends. When I finally decided to do something about it, a whole new world suddenly opened… a new fantastic point of view….a whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew! La la la la!!! Ooops! Sorry I got carried away.

I met this American girl who was hanging around the same gay places and fell desperately in love with her. In true lesbian spirit we are now best friends of course. After that I moved to London and have now been here 14 years. I moved here at the age of 19, didn’t speak a world of English. I used to hang out at The Locomotion in Leicester Square and knew lots of girls but had no idea what they were saying. Nice bunch though!!

Since then I have had 2 long term relationships, I’m best friend with my ex, I have a cat, I drive a Vespa scooter ( I’m Italian after all!) and since July this year I’m now married to a Glaswegian. After all we have only been together 9 short years! We have fun together! I cook, (no kidding!! Deep fried Mars Bars and deep fried pizza versus Italian cuisine!! Mmmm! No thanks) and she washes up. I drive, she gives directions! I like psychological thrillers, she likes teen movies, I’m loud, she’s not!! Perfect balance really!!

Coming out was easy. As a true rebellious teenager I said to my parents “I’m gay! If you have a problem with that and you'd rather disown me and not speak to me for 20 years and act all upset, give me some Italian drama, faint, threaten to never speak to me again …blah blah blah …that’s fine!. Otherwise we can all get along nicely!.... Oh and by the way your son (my brother that is!) is also gay!”

See! Simple really!! I "outed" both of us! Two for the price of one! Don't think my brother minded either (phew!).

London is cool. Here you can be who you want, dress the way you want (ie: go to Sainsbury wearing a robe and slippers!) and be yourself. A multicultural city that offers such a variety of scenes…. you never get bored. Definitely the place to be!