https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/23/one-of-them-michael-cashman-review-epic-love-pain

From a famous gay kiss on EastEnders to a seat in the House of Lords – a powerful account of public life, love and loss

We know Michael Cashman, or we think we do: the charmingly fresh-faced, somehow ageless actor who played Colin in EastEnders, was involved in the first gay kiss in a soap opera, became a gay activist then an MEP, and is now a member of the House of Lords. The title of his memoir tells us that his sexuality is central to his identity, and it is true that he has been absolutely fearless in proclaiming it – a particularly brave thing in the late 1980s, and he suffered the scabrous abuse of the tabloid press for it: “EastBenders!” the headlines howled. The News of the World led with “Secret Gay Love of Aids Scare EastEnder”, associating a storyline from the show with Cashman himself.

The paper also published his address, which resulted in bricks being thrown through his window. The Sunday Mirror managed to surpass this, confronting him on the doorstep with the claim that he had just come back from the US (he hadn’t) where he had taken an Aids test (he hadn’t), was almost certainly dying of it (he was clearly in radiant good health) and had decided to break off his relationship. He told them to tell his partner, Paul Cottingham, this. They already had, they said, but they didn’t mean him, they meant another lover with whom he was allegedly passionately involved.