Russell T Davies is responsible for telling the most powerful LGBTQ + stories, then transforming the queer representation on television. In 1999 he released the intrepid Queer As Folk on Channel 4, bringing unfiltered gay sex to mainstream, proving that television is unacceptable to both members of the LGBTQ + community and those outside it. But arguably its most critical turn to date came in 2020, when It’s A Sin stopped the world and after years of LGBTQ + people living with HIV and AIDS were ignored, demonized and sidelined, often left to die in fear and alone. , remembered them with the love and respect they deserve. The story was told to them honestly and with care. Following the screening of It’s A Sin on Channel 4, thousands of people in the UK rushed to get tested for HIV and for more than a year its impact has been incalculable. Davis used an exclusively LGBTQ + cast for his LGBTQ + characters and as he took on Doctor Who, he named the first black gay man as Lord of the Time with a black trans female partner in Ncuti Gatwa and Yasmin Finney respectively. Here, Metro.co.uk’s Guest Entertainment editor John Whaite talks to Davies about his career and the importance of representing LGBTQ + on screen. How was your time in Oxford? I started at St. John’s, but after 6 weeks, I knew I was out of my depths and just didn’t fit. How did you feel there as a working-class lad from Wales? I know what you mean, I never felt at home. Although maybe this is exactly the 18th. Indeed, I think I was shocked to find myself somewhere you could not watch TV. A set for the whole college, those were the days! What inspired you to write? I know this’s a bit of a silly question, but your work is so vulnerable. Are you compelled by something compelling or do you sometimes write simply because you have a job to finish? Oh, that is polite. I think so! I guess it has to be visceral. Yes, there is a technical side that requires you to submit 70 pages on Monday or 500 people can not do their job. But yes, it’s also a move. I have no choice. These stories would be in my mind no matter what job I did, I was born with them, they will not stop. On a similar note, you often walk the line between (or rather combine your ideas with) science fiction and raw humanity so beautifully, is that important to you? Why; I think I just do not see the limits of the species. Life is constantly changing, fiction can be anything, I like it when science fiction becomes real and I like it when reality sharpens. One improves the other! Do you have a favorite character you have created? Oh, that’s hard to say. They all live in my head, they really live, they would be offended. The other day, I had to write a character that I had not written in 32 years, but it was there, as soon as it came to the fore, as if I had never left. One of the strongest moments for me at It’s a Sin is when Ash is instructed to check all the books in the library to remove any homosexual references and states: “I looked at all the huge halls of literature and culture, science and of art. , and there is not the slightest risk that any child will ever be infected because there is not a single gay man or woman anywhere. There is nothing. There is nothing. “How important is it for you to combine LGBTQ + storytelling with culture so that history does not repeat itself? It’s A Sin was one of the most impressive shows in recent memory (Image: Channel 4) Well, that’s the issue, visibility. Increasingly, I think people are offended – and become biased without even realizing it – when they imagine that something from their childhood has been undermined. And specifically when a fundamental visual image is altered. Whether this is your childhood idea for mom and dad, or for Jesus and the apostles, or for the boy kissing the girl. If you learned it when you were one, then you get upset when it changes, even if that change is just someone else’s harmless existence. That’s why we need more images, more visibility, for everyone, from a young age, so a wider, more diverse world becomes more natural, more real, more acceptable. Happier! Does it make you proud to know that you are doing this and that you are paving the way for self-acceptance for future generations? Oh, that’s polite, but I think a lot of hard work is done by activists and philanthropists and fighters like Peter Tatchell. I’m doing my part, but no one has ever changed the law because of a TV show. Have you really fought for the inclusion of LGBTQ + on the small screen, what are your hopes or aspirations for representing LGBTQ + that you still want to achieve or would like to see happen? I think we need more and more – we have had thousands of years of straightforward stories, we have a long way to go before we can catch up. And there is danger in the air. The Don’t Say Gay movement proves that we can not relax. What is happening in America is coming here. “Don’t Say Gay Movement Proves We Can’t Relax” (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Help us raise £ 10,000 for Kyiv Pride and an LGBT + charity in the UK
To celebrate 50 years of Pride, Metro.co.uk has partnered with Kyiv Pride to raise money for their important project in Ukraine. Despite the war raging around them, Kyiv Pride continues to help LGBTQ + people, providing shelter, food and psychological support to those in need. We will share the cash with a grassroots charity closer to home. You can donate here I remember talking to Steph at Steph’s Packed Lunch about the discussion about queer actors playing queer roles and that was the perfect answer. Would you like to confirm your opinion about this for the readers of this Pride Edition? My God, this is great, this is an essay! I just think it’s not an equal seesaw, the majority of actors, who are straight, overwhelm the minority of the tracks, who are queer. And for those who say she is an actress, what do you think is an actress? It is to portray something truly. So drop the truth! As for those who were then wondering if queer actors can play straight, let me tell you: we have to pretend to be straight from the age of eight. This is our truth, we are experts! If you have not seen Big Boys yet, do it ASAP (Image: Channel 4) Which up-and-coming LGBTQ + talents really excite you and which LGBTQ + writers should we look out for? I’m so excited about the work of Jack Rooke, who wrote Bad Boys, now on Channel 4, it ‘s amazing! And my partner Charlie Covell, creator of End of the F World, is absolute genius. And Juno Dawson, a great novelist and screenwriter. But there are so many voices now, so much genius! My mom insisted I ask, above all other questions, where did your sister get this floral bathing cap? I am forbidden to say! I have to keep her a mystery. Even Helena Bonham Carter asked me this, but you will not break me!
Metro.co.uk celebrates 50 years of Pride
This year marks 50 years of Pride, so it seems right that Metro.co.uk goes beyond our ongoing support for LGBTQ +, through a wealth of content that not only celebrates all things Pride, but also shares stories. reflects and sensitizes the community this Pride Month. MORE: Find all Metro.co.uk Pride coverage here And we have some great names to help us as well. From a list of popular guest authors who take over the site for a week including Rob Rinder, Nicola Adams, Peter Tatchell, Kimberly Hart-Simpson, John Whaite, Anna Richardson and Dr Ranj, we will also have Sir Ian McKellen and his protagonists Drag Race, The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Tia Kofi offer their ideas. During Pride Month, which runs from June 1 to 30, Metro.co.uk will also support Kyiv Pride, a Ukrainian charity forced to work harder than ever to protect the rights of the LGBTQ + community in times of conflict. . To learn more about their work and what you can do to support them, click here.
