Theirs was the love that dared not speak its name - but soon it could be shouted from the rooftops.

A campaign has been launched for a blue plaque to mark the spot where one of Brighton and Hove's first gay icons lived out his years.

Lord Alfred Douglas, better known as Bosie, was the youth whose fling with Oscar Wilde led to the Victorian author's unhappy stay in Reading prison.

But Bosie, who moved to Hove in 1927 with his mother - 27 years after Wilde's death - is gradually becoming recognised as a talented poet in his own right.

Web designer Adrian Cooper is leading the campaign to raise the £1,500 needed for an English Heritage blue plaque at Bosie's former home in St Ann's Court, Nizells Avenue, Hove.

Adrian, from Kemp Town, Brighton, said: "He was a writer responsible for some of the most beautiful poetry and sonnets in the English language.

"But his important contributions to the world of literature have been overshadowed by his involvement with Oscar Wilde."

Bosie became known for his relationship with Wilde at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain.

His father, the Marquis of Queensberry, did not approve and a court case followed. Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison.

The story of forbidden love was brought to the big screen in the 1998 film Wilde starring Stephen Fry as Wilde and Jude Law as Bosie.

But less is known about Bosie's sonnets and poetry than his ruinous relationship.

After the affair with Wilde, Bosie got married and turned to Roman Catholicism.

He split from his wife and spent his last 21 years in Sussex, surviving on allowances provided by his mother and wife.

He produced his autobiography and several versions of his collected poems during this time.

Addresses where he lived included Fourth Avenue, Brunswick Square and a nursing home in The Drive.

Adrian wants a plaque to be erected outside Flat 1, St Ann's Court, Bosie's home from 1935 to 1944.

Adrian, 27, said: "Not many people know about Bosie's work. But his poem Two Loves contains a phrase almost everyone will have heard of - 'the love that dare not speak its name'."

English Heritage does not operate its plaque scheme in the city while Brighton and Hove City Council said if anyone wanted to put up a plaque they would have to do it themselves at a cost of £1,500.

Adrian said he had received dozens of letters from Bosie fans all over the world.

Lord Gawain Douglas, a great-nephew of Bosie, also supports the move, while Adrian has got permission from the owners of the property at St Ann's Court.

Bosie died in Lancing in 1944 and is buried in Crawley.