Incredibly, just over ten years ago homosexuality was still classified as a disease by the World Health Organisation.

Throughout the turbulent Eighties, young people coming to terms with their sexuality still had to face a lingering social stigma.

Many poured out their turmoil on to the pages of diaries.

These entries have now been brought together in a collection which chronicles the innermost thoughts of gay men and lesbians about the issues which shaped their lives and the nation's history over the past 20 years.

The pages are to be made public for the first time in the National Gay and Lesbian Survey, which has just been completed by the University of Sussex.

The project was inspired by the university's Mass Observation Archive, an insight into the lives of 20th Century Britons gleaned through the writings of thousands of people on their lives, loves and issues of the day.

Dorothy Sheridan, head of special collections at the university, said: "This is a unique collection and we are pleased to have it at Sussex.

"It shows how the mass-observation idea of gathering personal writing can be taken up by those who might otherwise not be represented in their own words. The anonymity of the project allowed for a huge degree of candour, making it all the more valuable."

Thousands of essays written by 200 gay men and women over the past 20 years are to be archived and made available in the university's library.

The survey was launched in 1986 by the late actor and writer Kenneth Barrow.

He was inspired to begin a project that would reflect the thoughts and feelings of gay and lesbian people during what came to be a period of huge social change when Aids was on the front pages of every newspaper, celebrities were regularly "outed" and the country had its first openly-gay politicians and clergy.

He invited gay and lesbian contributors to send him their stories and essays over 20 years on various issues, such as growing up, coming out, health and political and social events.

Barrow was HIV positive and died in 1993.

His work was continued by teacher Kerry Sutton-Spence and archivist Jerome Farrell.

The pair recently decided to wind up the project and the final instalment has now been delivered to the university.

Staff in the library's special collections unit will catalogue the responses into an archive that forms a snapshot of life within the gay community.

Ms Sutton-Spence said: "We felt the project met a need for gay men and lesbians to write about their lives at a particularly crucial time in British history for them."

Archivist Jerome Farrell said: "These written accounts are often fascinating and informative.

"Many are funny, sad, or both. Together they form a moving testament to the courage of people who faced prejudice."