Homophobia set to take centre stage

Reporter: Karen Doherty
Date published: 18 October 2010


Flamboyant fashion expert Gok Wan recently revealed how a homophobic attack, shortly after he had come out to college friends, shattered his already fragile confidence. Reporter Karen Doherty spoke to one Oldham actor who is taking centre stage to tackle homophobia.

STUDENT Matthew Shepard was 21 when he was tortured and murdered for being gay in Wyoming in October, 1998.

Gay trainee PC James Parkes was left with a fractured skull, eye socket and cheek bone in a sickening attack in Liverpool in October, 2008.

Extreme cases but Paul Burgess (41), a campaigner against homophobia, said: “There are still young people suffering, being bullied, simply for who they are. That’s not acceptable.”

With 31-year-old partner Jason Bromley, Paul makes up one half of the Pink Triangle Theatre, named after the symbol Nazis used to identify homosexuals in concentration camps.

They both work for NHS Oldham and joined forces with couple Stuart-James Fairley (24), from Rochdale, and Thomas Moulton (18), from Middleton, to form the company.

All studied at Oldham College — Thomas is still there — and their production “SHOW ONE!” has been attracting rave reviews.

“We did a search for theatre companies that specialise in shows about homophobia. We couldn’t find any,” explained Paul from Fitton Hill, who has been nominated for a Pride in Oldham award.

“There were lots doing things about racism, lots doing things about general equality, but nothing specialising in homophobia.”

“SHOW ONE!” is a 30-minute, monologue-based play about the different perceptions and attitudes towards homosexuality.

It premiered in Oldham in May to mark IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) and Paul said: “We realised we really had something here. We had the ability to really affect people.”

The day also launched the second survey by the National Union of Teachers on the prevalence of homophobia in Oldham’s schools,

Of the 73 teachers who responded, 98.9 per cent said they had witnessed pupils suffering homophobic abuse at least every term.

Some 55.4 per cent of staff had been the subject of abuse during the school year. But while 72 per cent felt that it was a serious issue that should be tackled, only 8.2 per cent said it was being vigorously discouraged in their schools.

“We did a lot of research on the internet about homophobic attacks and realised just how prevalent they still were. We were appalled,” explained Paul, who said all four had experienced homophobia.

“When you get into adulthood you convince yourself times have changed, that children do not get bullied — but they do.

“It was pretty much like a calling — we need to do this.”

Shows at Oldham College were followed by a performance at Oldham Pride.

Paul added: “That was our most emotional performance. We got a standing ovation.

“That’s when we realised there was another side to the show. It wasn’t just about educating heterosexual people, it was empowering homosexual people. They were saying ‘yes, we shouldn’t hide ourselves away.’”

The reason for this, explains Paul, is that the play also deals with heterophobia.

One scene draws on the different attitudes that the two couples had to holding hands and kissing in public.

It takes place on a bus when a character pulls away as his gay partner tries to kiss him.

“Stuart and Thomas were good for us. They would kiss in public, they would hold hands in public. At first that used to make me feel really uncomfortable,” admitted Paul.

“But they weren’t getting the reactions that I would expect a gay couple to get in public, so I had confidence myself.”

“SHOW ONE!” takes place at Taurus Bar, Canal Street, Manchester, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, at 6pm and 9pm.

Added Paul: “We have never played in the gay village — that’s an important part of the process for us.

“We want our peers to not only know we are fighting your corner, but you might have prejudices too.”

However, Paul is passionate that it should be seen by young people such as the 160 who saw it at the U-Nite event in Rochdale in August.

It will also be staged at Fitton Hill Youth Centre on October 28 and Paul wants more schools and colleges to get involved.

He believes they are being put off by the strong language in one scene, but said this was necessary to portray realism.

“We would be stupid to ignore the fact that the show we created and perform has had a real impact on young people,” urged Paul.

“Yes it contains a short scene with some strong language, but in all honesty the only people who seem to have been concerned about this have been adults. Sometimes we adults need to take a back seat and stop deciding for young people what we think is best for them, but instead actually pay attention to them and to what they say works.

“Our show works, they’ve told us, and we listened. We believe we are all strong and very positive openly gay role models. We are all very close friends and very passionate about this message, about sharing it, when together.”