How Music Gave Gay People a Voice

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

We’ve heard a lot of talk through our lives about how people and certain aspects of culture have helped change perceptions of gay people. From films such as Cabaret and Brokeback Mountain to people like Antony Grey and Peter Tatchell, and of course there are the Stonewall riots.

But one thing that has been a constant throughout the fight for equality is the sound of music, and I don’t mean the Julie Andrews film. Music is a way of connecting people from a broad range of social backgrounds as it expresses pain, emotions, determination and everything else in between and has certainly given many gay men and women across the world a voice over the years. Not only that but many of the artists have helped give us representation in the public eye for quite some time now.

Before and up to the mid 1960s it would have been pretty hard to release a record such as Lady Gaga’s‘Born This Way.’ During this period, many gay men attached themselves to songs such as ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away’ by Judy Garland, who is often considered a gay icon due to her struggles, which many gay men identified with. But back in the 1960s there was a counterculture big enough to see the release of some records that are now seen as gay. The book From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961 – 1978 documents this and discusses a number of records such as ‘The Shower Song (I’m So Wet)’ that would have apparently embarrassed the Village People, and even an openly gay record label called Camp, which saw the release of 10 singles and two albums.

Music itself hasn’t always been as ‘straight’ as many would think. Openly straight songs about men and women falling in love dominated the charts back then, but you have to remember that during 1960s America black people had their own separate music charts. The mainstream industry was very straight and white then; some people didn’t even like the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

However, as music progressed into the 70s and 80s it got a little more ‘queer’. We saw the birth of disco and glam-rock; filled with sparkles, platform shoes, big hair and men in make-up, and we saw gay men hit the charts and gay songs do very very well.

One of the most well-known and arguably most pivotal moments of the 1970s was David Bowie’s ‘I’m Gay’ interview in Melody Maker, which finally saw music come out, so to speak. However, years later Bowie stated that there was a backlash in America, but there’s frequently some kind of resistance over there. You only have to look at the controversy Adam Lambert caused during the 2009 American Music Awards – where he kissed a man on stage, prompting ABC (the American television network that aired the awards) to receive over 1,500 complaints and cancel Lambert’s performance on Good Morning America – to see just how shocking something like this would have been in the 1970s. Still, we progressed and music helped in our fight. Hits like ‘Y.M.C.A’ proved popular across the world, despite the majority of the straight population not realising that the song was referencing the YMCA’s reputation as a gay hook-up and cruising spot. Similarly, Sylvester burst onto the scene with ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. With a black, gay drag queen now lighting up the charts we can see just how far music had progressed, and the exposure Sylvester gained for gay people should never be overlooked.

It’s no doubt that Sylvester helped inspire a barrage of gender bending stars of the 1980s. As the MTV generation was born, singers like Boy George, Steve Strange, Pete Burns and in many ways Annie Lennox – whose androgyny blurred the lines of what it was to be male and female – burst into the mainstream with their highly popular music videos showcasing a new non-traditional image for all to see. The decade saw gay people get a huge voice through music as Frankie told everyone to relax and Bronski Beat let the small town boys know they knew exactly how they felt. The 1980s saw the thumping sounds of so called ‘gay music’ burst onto the scene and dominate the charts the world over; I can just imagine the faces of many a bigot flicking on their TV sets to see Divine singing ‘You Think You’re a Man.’

Despite the negativity of the AIDS crisis, gay men and women were still fighting hard throughout the 90s, but not without a little help from the power of song. As Melissa Etheridge came out and Brian Molko and Billie Joe Armstrong announced their bisexuality, the queen of pop Madonna was bringing ‘voguing’ into the mainstream straight out of the gay clubs of New York. Not only that but she also released the very provocative ‘Justify My Love’ video featuring gay men. Despite the fact it was banned on MTV it was still out there and managed to become a huge hit. But one of the most significant parts of the 1990s, in terms of LGBT visibility and music, came from the overly camp Eurovision. Out were the days of Cliff Richard and Sandy Shaw with their wholesome images and in was Dana International, the transsexual Israeli pop singer and winner of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. By now we had moved a long way in terms of freedom and rights and music had progressed and indeed helped with it, but this was only the beginning.

As we swung into the 2000s gay people were out and proud; gone was section 28, in America Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was finally repealed in September 2011 and gay marriage has been a hot topic around the world for many years. In terms of music, we saw t.A.T.u hit number one on the charts, despite using lesbianism as an obvious marketing ploy, and Madonna kiss Britney Spears at the 2003 VMA Awards, in one of the most memorable moments in music history. By now it wasn’t just gay men making a splash, lesbians were also edging into the mainstream despite only having a few moments previously in terms of music. With acts like Will Young selling millions of records, and gay men and women popping up in the finals of massively successful programmes like The X Factor, it became apparent that gay musicians were now firmly a fixture on the charts.

We also witnessed many anthemic songs appear in the last 10 years – ‘Beautiful’, ‘Firework’, ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, ‘Born This Way’ – and gay men and women were being featured in music videos more frequently too (just watch Kylie Minogue’s ‘All The Lovers’ below). It’s clear to see just how music has helped shape the way gay men and women are viewed, not to mention giving them a platform on which to be noticed.

From the days of being closeted and listening to Judy whilst a sub-culture was being born, to the openly gay pop stars and songs telling us to embrace ourselves and love who we are, we’ve come a long way in our fight for equality and music has undoubtedly played a prominent part in that.

NHS Services for Everyone?

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Recently I received a survey through the post; apparently out of all the people who live in my area I was selected at random despite the fact my partner also received one, what a coincidence. However this isn't what I'm getting at, the survey was about health and wellbeing for 2013 from the NHS, I know it just sounds like so much fun to fill in doesn't it?

Anyway after flicking through the questions there was the usual; do you smoke? Yes, do you drink? Yes, how much fruit and veg do you consume a week? As you can see it was a pretty standard set of questions. Now this is all well and good and maybe just maybe the survey will help with something, I don't know what it'll help with besides helping to waste some more precious NHS money. But as I got to the end of the survey there was the typical 'about you' section, gender, age, ethnicity you get the picture. I assume this is to help them narrow down which age groups, genders and social groups are suffering the most and which ones are experiencing a happier life, but the one question that was missing was that of sexuality.

Now before you start making assumptions that I'm someone who wants to shout from the rooftops that gay people are being ignored again, I'm not, but you can't help but wonder why this option isn't there. I mean study's have found that LGBT people are more likely to suffer from mental health issues or drink and drug abuse, and by asking this question on a more localised survey by the NHS they could find a way of tackling this, instead of leaving it to certain organisations such as Stonewall and the LGF.

Not every area in the country has somewhere that gay people can turn to for help, and some may send this survey back and be found to be severally depressed or unhappy with life who may be gay, yet this will go unnoticed. I filled out an online health and wellbeing survey a while ago specifically for LGBT people, which was put together by an LGBT organisation, just so I could help out with these statistics that so many organisations such as the NHS are missing.

However it isn't just this NHS wellbeing survey that fails to ask this question. When I was at University I applied for a job at a supermarket so I could make some extra money. Me and my friend (who happens to be a lesbian) went to get the application forms and both said there's no point applying, as we wouldn't get the job. However after noticing the equal opportunities section I made a quick joke that this was our way in, however there was once again no section asking about sexuality. I didn't get the job, because I had no experience working in a supermarket and neither would I want to be given a job simply because I am gay. But it makes me wonder how a company can call themselves an equal opportunities employer and only mention disability, race and ethnicity on an application form as if they're the only reasons why people would be discriminated against when applying for a job.

Now I may have digressed into something completely different there but the principal is still the same, does the NHS not care about the well being of LGBT people? Of course they care, but how will they know the full extent of the health and wellbeing of a social group that does suffer abuse in the areas in which they live (do you feel safe in your area was a question on the survey), and are known for having higher abuse rates if they fail to include a small section in a survey?

Maybe they just forgot, maybe they ran out of space on the paper or maybe because there are LGBT groups out there who've conducted these kinds of studies in the past they felt they didn't need to. The thing is we will never know why it wasn't on there, but the other fact is; if they continue to miss this off surveys in the future then the health and wellbeing of a vast amount of LGBT people will continue to go unknown, which could be a big problem for many.

Icons: Antony Grey

Originally posted on www.differentscene.co.uk

In the last two sections on gay icons we’ve mentioned two men from the entertainment industry, this week I’m looking at something completely different, Gay rights activist Antony Grey.

Often regarded as Britain’s first gay rights activist due to his central role in pushing through the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, Antony Grey was born Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright on October 6th 1927 in Wilmslow Cheshire, he chose to adopt the Pseudonym Antony Grey in 1962 fearing the dangers of police attention for campaigners of gay rights, during a time when being homosexual could result in life imprisonment.

After winning a place at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he studied history, Grey left with his degree determined to fight the laws that he said had destroyed the genius Oscar Wilde, and brought misery to thousands of otherwise blameless men.

Oscar Wilde himself had been imprisoned due to section 11 of the 1885 Criminal Amendment Act, which had become known as “the blackmailers’ charter”, along with the Vagrancy Act of 1898 which had made it illegal for homosexual men to do so much as flirt.

After leaving college Grey worked for the British Iron & Steel Federation, that later dissolved into British Steel. During his time here he also began voluntary work for the Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS), where he began lobbying for gay equality and to change the laws that criminalised gay men.

After two years in 1960 he became the society’s honorary treasurer and then later became its secretary by the end of 1962, which he continued to do for the next two decades.

During his time there, he was one of the driving forces behind the groundbreaking 1967 Sexual Offences Act. Although he was not happy with the changes made to his original draft legislation which had made it no where near as liberal as he had proposed and wanted, it did include the passage that said, “not withstanding any statutory or common law provision, a homosexual act in private shall not be an offence, provided that the parties consent there to and have attained the age of 21”.

Due to his help in pushing this Act through, it paved the way for other groups such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, the Gay Liberation Front and Outrage, to change the laws and attitudes further and further, during the course of the last 40 years.

Along with working for the Homosexual Law Reform Society he also ran the Albany Trust, a charity that helped gay men who had developed psychological problems from being persecuted, before retiring as its director in 1977, but remaining a patron for the remainder of his life.

In his later years he also qualified as a therapist and ran his own blog, along with serving on the executives of the National Council for Civil Liberties and the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy. Along with this he was the author of several books that included a memoir Personal Tapestry and Quest for Justice about the 1967 Act.

Later in life he became hurt due to being written off as a trimmer and compromiser, who gave away too much to get the 1967 Act through, that was seen as imperfect by people who didn’t understand the anguish of the 1950s.

After Grey’s death, on April 30^th 2010 gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said that he didn’t “believe in the honors system but it is absolutely outrageous and despicable that he was never offered even an OBE, let alone the knighthood that his work for homosexual equality merited”, before adding “I salute Antony Grey and his trail-blazing contribution to LGBT equality and human rights. We all walk in his shadow. Even though he hadn’t been recognized within the honors system for the great things he did for gay rights, the gay community has honored him and in 2007 he was named Stonewalls ‘Hero of the Year’.

When collecting his award Grey said, “The road to homosexual emancipation which I and a few others embarked upon following the Wolfenden Report has been a long and arduous one,” he said in accepting the 2007 award. “But now here we are, and we can be thankful for what has been achieved. At least, we are able to celebrate our identities in this magnificent building, instead of being thrown off the top of it for being who we are — as some of our enemies would like to happen. But the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and ours is a never-ending struggle not just for our own rights, but for human rights.”

As you can see this man lead an incredible and inspirational life, which has allowed all of us to able to live how we want and have the same equal rights as our heterosexual counterparts, some people don’t even know his name but we owe so much to him.

The Culture of Pride ...

Originally posted on www.gailymail.co.uk

So pride season was just upon us with every gay from every corner of Great Britain coming out to show that there’s no shame in being gay. Pride is an important day for anyone from the LGBT community as it reminds us just how far our community has come in the last 40 years, and reminds us of events such as the Stonewall riots and those people who started the fight for equality and helped make the world a better place for us today.

I have attended a few prides over the last few years like many other people from around the country and the world, and last week I was lucky enough to attend the pride festivities in Manchester for their 21st birthday.

What pride shows me is that no matter what through the wind, rain and what ever other type of weather Britain throws at us the gay community is still prepared to get together and celebrate the fact that society is now a much safer and all round better place for us. Over the few days or in some cases weeks in which pride is celebrated every year you see people from all walks of life come together and act as one. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male, female, gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered as everyone unites and shows just how comfortable they are with their sexuality and, we mustn’t forget, have a few drinks like you would at any other celebration.

Pride isn’t just for the gays either these days, as more and more families and our supporters come together and show their solidarity to help fight for what is right, and in the process have a good time.

The pride that we know and love today started not long after the Stonewall riots, which changed everything for the gay community as it showed others that we were here and we were going to fight for our rights. In June 1970 the first Pride march was held in New York and became the first of an extended annual LGBT pride celebration. Since then Pride has continued to grow and there are pride marches and parades all over the world. The first Pride in the UK was in 1972 in London and that has continued to grow and grow over the last 40 years, and has also spawned prides all over Great Britain.

Some people today seem to think that pride isn’t as important as it once was, and have a perception that that the fight has been won and everything is OK. But the truth of the matter is, that isn’t the case. Every year we hear about children being bullied at school because they are gay or because they have been perceived to be gay, and there have been a number of high profile cases where young people have taken their own lives because of this. There is still a negative attitude from a number of people in today’s society who still seem to think that being gay is a lifestyle choice and that we don’t deserve the same rights as they do. Well we do, and pride is a time for people to get together and continue to help fight against this negativity that in some quarters is sill prevalent.

Whilst at Manchester Pride I also learnt that they had raised over £800,000 over the last few years to help charities based within the gay community, such as those dealing with HIV, which itself is reason enough for pride to carry on and help the community.

Pride is a hugely important piece of our history and by maintaining its presence over the years has aided not only the people that these charities have helped, but also many people from around the world who may have felt alone yet have come to realise that there are people just like them everywhere. It also helps to give a sense of belonging and togetherness to our community, because for years we were considered unequal and were used as scapegoats for society’s malaise, so with the help of gay pride and the constant campaigning that surrounds the celebrations, we as a community have helped empower ourselves the world over.

Pride season may be over for now and the rainbow flags and whistles have probably been confined to the drawer for another year, but just remember next year to go along to pride and show support for your community and everyone who has helped get us to this stage. You don’t have to wear pink feather boas and rainbow flags to show your support … but it’s all part of the fun.