Letter: Gays need not fear growing old

Sir: As a gay man and a lover of real cask beer I take exception to Desmond Coughlan's letter on gay bars and good beer (18 December). Maybe his local bar does sell a good pint of Guinness - which is a stout, not a beer anyway - but it is still fizzy pasteurised stuff. There is a strong element of macho lager-drinking in some strands of gay culture but this should not detract from the fact that there are plenty of lesbians and gay men who like cask-conditioned beer.

The fact that to drink it we have to go to bars that welcome people of all genders and sexualities - provided they like a decent, well-kept pint - is probably no bad thing either. Neither lesbians and gays nor Camra members need ghettoising or closeting.

KEITH FLETT

London N17