The original version of this story which appeared in RG Magazine was never sent to the LIBRARY, this is the unedited version.

Bill Courson, the man behind the campaign to legalise gay male sex in Bermuda, has revealed he is a "married bisexual''.

Mr. Courson, 40, says his wife helps him with research and gives him "moral support''.

The revelations come in the latest issue of The Advocate , America's most influential gay publication, which highlights Mr. Courson's Bermuda campaign.

The New Jersey-based activist tells an Advocate reporter that change in Bermuda's laws depends on "our community there''.

And he jokes that gays on the Island could form a group called the "Pink Bermuda Triangle''.

The Advocate , based in Los Angeles, is known for its ability to reach mainstream American opinion. It has a distribution of 100,000.

In a full-page article, the magazine describes Mr. Courson's role in a successful campaign to remove an anti-gay sex law in the Isle of Man, off the English coast.

It describes how the "quiet-voiced accountant'' then turned his attention to Bermuda, and had his questions "shrugged off'' by Bermudian and British authorities.

The magazine also quotes Tourism Minister the Hon. CV (Jim) Woolridge as saying that gay sex is wrong, and that he will vote against legalising it.

It adds that "nervous'' business owners and hoteliers in Bermuda are fretting about a possible boycott of their "Caribbean island'' by American gays and lesbians.

Mr. Courson tells Advocate reporter Chris Michaud how gays and lesbians in Bermuda began to phone him, circulate petitions against the gay sex law and organise.

"I've said that the matter is now in the hands of the governments in London and Bermuda,'' Mr. Courson says. "But it's even more so in the hands of our community there.'' Mr. Courson speaks of his work for human rights causes over 20 years. "My introduction to human rights and the gay and lesbian movement came at about the same time,'' he says.

"I was involved with the anti-war movement for some years and went on April 22, 1972, to the great moratorium march in New York City (against US involvement in Vietnam).

"There was a huge gay contingent, and as a result I became aware of and involved in the gay and lesbian movement and the human rights movement.

"It was a life-changing experience.

"I'm not an attorney, and I'm not an academic, but one thing I've learned from all of this is that one person can change things.

"All human rights are important whether racial, ethnic or religious. "You can't qualify any one aspect as being more important, but you can qualify one as being more critical.

"When the history of this epoch is written, those who stood in opposition to not only accepting but celebrating human diversity will be seen not as supporters of traditional values but as enemies of humanity.'' Mr. Courson says he likes to cook and study languages in his spare time. He adds that his wife, Camille Zanni, regards most of his work as "pretty dry stuff'', though she sometimes helps with research and gives "lots and lots of moral support''.

William A. Courson, the man spearheading the campaign to legalise gay sex in Bermuda, has been a human rights advocate for the past 20 years.

RG MAGAZINE MARCH 1993