Mohsin Zaidi Interviewed by David Isaac

Criminal barrister Mohsin Zaidi talks about his prize-winning autobiography about his personal journey from denial to acceptance that he was gay.

Zaidi grew up in a devout Muslim household where it felt impossible for him to be gay. He says his world seemed to be closing around him because he was unable to be open and because of difficulties at school. Despite this, he was the first person from the school to go to Oxford University, where he was able to discover who he wanted to be and was confronted with a decision about how he wanted to live his life.

Zaidi works at one of the top chambers in the country and has worked at the UN war crimes tribunal and at the UK Supreme Court. He is on the board of Stonewall, the UK’s biggest LGBT rights charity. A Dutiful Boy was winner of the Polari First Book Prize 2021 and the LAMBDA 2021 Literary Award for Best Gay Memoir/Biography.