SkinMarvin Gay Stories

Part | Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |

Prologue

At the tender young age of 17 years, Johnnie Burkett had become an accomplished lover of gay men, through his lover Mick, and through his acts of prostitution. His life in the tiny Island in the English Channel had blossomed since meeting Mick, the leader of the Queerskins. Their relationship had been passionate, violent, at times brutal, but always loving. Johnnie's grasp and love of the brotherhood and culture of the skinheads was quick and total, as if he had been born to be a skin.

The Island (the name shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons) was small, and nights long. The teenagers of the Island had little to do on long summer nights, and sex was their main preoccupation, as well as the Odeon or Gaumont Cinema's. This led to a high early marriage rate of teenagers, some marrying at 14 and 15 years. Most were parents before they turned 16 years old. Therefore, to think of Johnnie as promiscuous or Mick as being a pedo, is unwarranted. This was life in the 60's in the Islands; with sex their only form of entertainment. Yes it was illegal to have sex before 21 years of age, but if enforced, the entire Island population would have been in jail.

The Islands were also different from the remainder of Europe for their progressive attitudes to some things and regressive thinking in others. The good points were their attitudes to road safety. At age 12 years, a youth could have a motorcycle licence for an auto cycle up to 49cc. At 16 years, a motorcycle licence up to 99cc, and at 18 years up to 199cc. At 21 years, they could have an open licence. This allowed the youth to learn gradually.

Education was excellent, with a good public school system, boys and girl's grammar school, and a private college renowned throughout the world. Unfortunately, most left school at 14 years, as there was no skilled work in the Island. Even apprenticeships had to be carried out through Southampton Technical School. The government jobs were for the boys, and sons of the boys. Work consisted of horticultural labourer in winter, and tourism in summer. Some lucky ones were able to get jobs in the retail shops in the High Street. All other shops in the Island were privately owned and run.

The government was still under the feudal system; landowners ran the government, and the government jobs held by their relatives. If you were the offspring of an Island worker, you stayed a worker regardless of how intelligent you were, or you left the island.

The Island existed on flowers, Iris, Freesia, and Roses in winter, with tomatoes later towards spring and summer. Tourism was the Island mainstay, with most households opening their homes to visitors as Guesthouses. Most Islanders worked only 6 months of the year, and fishing in winter helped them survive.

Why do I give you this information in reasonable detail? It is to allow you to understand the thinking, morality, and unjust living system for the Islanders. I do not wish to justify them, rather ask you to understand them. The skinheads were part of the working class people of the Island; downtrodden with no chance to bettering themselves in this feudal system they lived under, even in the relatively modern times of 1965. Born from the working class of the Island, most from wharf labourer fathers, and large poverty line families. Life was hard and they coped as best they knew how.

The skinhead culture found a ready following on the Island wharfs. Irish and West Indian workers came to the Island in the summer to work the wharfs, when harbour traffic was at its height. They joined the local crews, and their brotherhood and culture was spread to the Island where working class lads needed some meaning to life and the skinheads gave them this.

The youth of the late 60's, early seventies grabbed the latest fads with relish. The Mods, Rockers, The Smoothies, The Sharps, the peace movements of the 70's. All made their mark, but the skinheads lived forever; their brotherhood lives today because they swore an oath of allegiance to the skinhead movement for life. The skinhead culture will live forever, because the skinheads of yesterday have trained the skinheads of today, who will train the army of tomorrow. World over, where there are working class youth, there you will find skinheads, arrogant, proud, angry. Right, left, queer, diaper, no matter. They all have one thing in common, Brotherhood.

True skinheads are apolitical and non-racist, being born of the West Indian culture. The nationalistic fervour of some groups, go against all the skinhead culture believes in. These groups grew from racial tension through mass migration of once colonial holdings, and the opening of Europe's borders. In other parts of the world, national pride has led to groups forming to promote this pride. They are few and far between, but the media jumps on their hatred, leaving all skinhead groups with a legacy they cannot overcome. Football in Britain has spawned new groups of football thugs, again leaning on the skinhead culture for recognition. Working class youth love their Soccer, and skinheads are part of this football fever, but once again the media have grabbed these individuals and tarred the skinhead movement with their reputation for violence and destruction. The true skinhead movement will survive, and the brotherhood will march to the future safe and secure in the knowledge that the young true skinheads of today will train others to follow.

Part | Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |