Editing Brian Epstein (section)

===Sexual orientation===
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Epstein's homosexuality was not publicly known until some years after his death, although it had been an [[open secret]] among his friends and business associates.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=88}} While Epstein was in the British Army, he commissioned a tailor to make him an officer's uniform. He wore the uniform when cruising the bars of London, but was arrested one night at the [[Army and Navy Club]] in [[Piccadilly]] by the military police for impersonating an officer. Epstein managed to avoid a [[court martial]] by agreeing to see an army [[psychiatrist]], who learned of Epstein's sexuality.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=86}} After ten months he was discharged from the army on medical grounds for being "emotionally and mentally unfit". Epstein later stated that his first homosexual experience was when he returned to Liverpool after being discharged.<ref name="NowhereMan" />{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=260}}

Epstein spent a year studying acting at RADA, but dropped out shortly after his arrest for "persistent importuning" outside a men's public toilet in [[Swiss Cottage]], London. [[Cottaging]], as it was called, was one of the few public ways that gay and [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] men could meet, especially if they were [[closeted]].<ref name="NowhereMan2">{{cite news |first=Glenn |last=Frankel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082101714_2.html |title=Nowhere Man (p2) |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=26 August 2007 |access-date=26 May 2011}}</ref> When Epstein first saw the Beatles perform he noticed their stage attire first, saying, "They were rather scruffily dressed, in the nicest possible way, or I should say in the most attractive way—black leather jackets, jeans, long hair of course".<ref name="FranklyBrian0407">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/mersey/5184.shtml |title=Frankly Speaking: Brian Epstein (time: 04.07) |publisher=BBC |date=23 March 1964 |access-date=2 July 2011}}</ref> McCartney said that when Epstein started to manage the Beatles they knew that he was homosexual but did not care, because he encouraged them professionally and offered them access to previously "off-limits" social circles.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=88}}

Although the group, Lennon in particular, often made sarcastic comments about Epstein's homosexuality to friends and to Epstein personally, no one outside the group's inner circle was allowed to comment. Ian Sharp (actor Richard Tate),<!-- https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music/lennons-college-pal-spills-beans-3536664 https://coronationstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Richard_Tate https://www.advocate.com/news/2005/11/24/john-lennon-pal-recalls-outing-brian-epstein --> one of Lennon's art-school friends, once made a sarcastic remark about Epstein, saying, "Which one of you [Beatles] does he fancy?" Sharp was sent a letter by Epstein's office within 48 hours that demanded a complete apology.<ref name="NowhereMan4" /> Sharp apologised but was then ostracised. McCartney sent him a letter directing him to have no contact with any of them in the future.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=302–303}} Epstein went on holiday to places such as [[Amsterdam]], [[Torremolinos]] and [[Barcelona]] or Manchester at weekends, as the attitude towards homosexuals there was more tolerant than in Liverpool, even though Liverpool did have several gay bars.<ref name="NowhereMan2" />

In his autobiography, [[Pete Best]] stated that Epstein drove them both to [[Blackpool]] one evening where Epstein expressed his "very fond admiration". Epstein then supposedly said, "Would you find it embarrassing if I ask you to stay in a hotel overnight?" Best replied that he was not interested and the two never mentioned the incident again.<ref name="NowhereMan4" /> There were reports of a brief sexual encounter between Lennon and Epstein during a four-day holiday in [[Barcelona]] in April 1963. Lennon admitted in a 1971 ''Rolling Stone'' interview that he knew Epstein was a "fag" and that he (Lennon) enjoyed "playing a bit faggy and all that". Addressing the rumours again later, Lennon told ''[[Playboy]]'' in 1980, "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated&nbsp;... but we did have a pretty intense relationship". A fictionalised account of the Spanish holiday is featured in the 1991 film ''[[The Hours and Times]]''.<ref name="dowling">Dowling, William J. (1989) ''Beatlesongs''. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc. {{ISBN|0-671-68229-6}}</ref>