Book, 'I Am Learning To Love. A personal journey to Wholeness in Christ'

This book belonged to Chris Butler when he was 19. It was given to him when he turned to radical religion when unable to accept being gay. It is written by Martin Hallett, the Christian leader of the True Freedom Trust. Hallett founded the True Freedom Trust (TFT) in 1977 with Canon L. Roy Barker. The TFT is an organisation that encourages celibacy for gay people and discourages trans people from undertaking gender re-assignment surgery. Chris rejected religion after being exorcised and forced to attend 'gay curing' classes. He tells us more - "I first read this book in my late teens. At the time I was involved with True Freedom Trust (the organisation run by Martin Hallett) and was misguidedly seeking a 'cure' for my same sex attraction. The book is based around Martin's personal story and comes from the perspective of Homosexuality being sinful. This was a commonly held religious viewpoint in the 1980s, one that was no doubt fuelled through the fear generated by the AIDS crisis. I made the frame and cut the mount for the original book cover artwork, which used to hang in Martin's hallway" Chris Butler, 2017