A Manc's gui to: the Gay Village, more than jt a party district

Contents:

• LTLE BRA’S MATT LUS SAYS ‘ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE’ WAS MEANT TO BE A ‘CELEBRATN’ OF GAY PEOPLE
• MATT LUS FENDS 'ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE' SK
• GAY UPL AT HOME THE VILLAG
• A LOURFUL FAREWELL TO GEE MONTAGUE – THE OLST GAY THE VILLAGE
• THE GAY MEN FREQUENTED MANHATTAN PIANO BARS. SO DID THEIR KILLER.
• LOOKG FOR THE GAY OLD DAYS THE EAST VILLAGE
• A MANC’S GUI TO: THE GAY VILLAGE, MORE THAN JT A LATE-NIGHT PARTY DISTRICT

LTLE BRA’S MATT LUS SAYS ‘ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE’ WAS MEANT TO BE A ‘CELEBRATN’ OF GAY PEOPLE

Matt says the character was meant to be a ‘celebratn’ of gay people (Picture: Rex Featur, BBC)Comedian and actor Matt Lus has spoken out about his ntroversial Ltle Bra character Dafydd Thomas, better known as ‘the only gay the village’. Matt said he knows the character has been ed as a tool to bully young gay people, but sists that was not the show’s tentn.

‘I have had people who had ‘you are the only gay the village’ said to them and to was meant to be a celebratn, ’ he told Richard Herrg’s RHLSTP podst. Sce the show end 2005, the sketch has gaed a lot of cricism for s ls than plimentary portrayal of gay men. The character is emed offensive by many (Picture: BBC)‘I remember thkg there was a greeds to Ltle Bra and we jt wanted to show off as many characters as possible so we played black, whe, straight, gay, male, female, tall, short, whatever, ’ the 45-year-old told the podst.

Matt Lus has fend his Ltle Bra character Daffyd Thomas whose nng gag on the edy show was that he's 'the only gay the village'.

MATT LUS FENDS 'ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE' SK

Speakg on the Richard Herrg RHLSTP podst, the ic, 45, explaed that the character - who would wear bber sus, an earrg, and had bleached blon hair and overly-plucked eyebrows - was meant to be 'a celebratn' of gay people. 'I have had people who had "you are the only gay the village" said to them and to was meant to be a celebratn, ' he said. Carry on mpg: Matt Lus has fend his Ltle Bra character Daffyd Thomas whose nng gag on the edy show was that he's 'the only gay the village''But people were labelled "the only gay the village" at school.

'He went on: 'I remember thkg there was a greeds to Ltle Bra and we jt wanted to show off as many characters as possible so we played black, whe, straight, gay, male, female, tall, short, whatever. It was meant as entertament, not to make young gay people sad' In fense: Speakg on the Richard Herrg RHLSTP podst, the ic, 45, explaed that the character - who would wear bber sus, an earrg, and had bleached blon hair and overly-plucked eyebrows - was meant to be 'a celebratn' of gay peopleMatt starred Ltle Bra alongsi David Walliams, pair soared to fame as a double act...

"You n tell jt about anyone around here that you're gay, and you won't have a problem, '' said Villag rint Lda Bernat.

GAY UPL AT HOME THE VILLAG

Wily known as a cril votg bloc for right-wg ndidat, is also, ls nspicuoly, home to a thrivg gay Rabow club has no head unt — years of discrimatn have ma the gay muny leery of lists — but emails reach close to 2, leads to creasgly crlo qutns:1.

How did the gay muny feel fortable enough to throw weekly dance parti at a untry club?

''It was the ncept of never havg to leave the neighborhood — the Villag has more than 100 rtrants, 45 golf urs, partment stor and almost every other necsy — that attracted Garv and O'Donnell om San Diego a social clubs for every nceivable persuasn already the Villag, the ia of gettg gay rints together seemed a is, until O'Donnell and Garv first tried 10 years ago. Gay upl who had grown fortable the muny, and were fancially secure retirement, no longer saw a reason to hi.

A LOURFUL FAREWELL TO GEE MONTAGUE – THE OLST GAY THE VILLAGE

While gay rints threw a prott-ee celebratn a town square after the recent Supreme Court cisn legalizg same-sex marriag, there were a number of hate-filled ments on lol msage boards Joseph Flynn, the Villag Democratic Club director, says those who sport liberal bumper stickers still n the risk of beg Flynn and Rabow members say the image of the Villag beg overn by the tea party is exaggerated and outdated. In the early morng of Saturday, June 28, 1969, dozens of gay men, lbians, and transgenred people, many of them people of lor, risted a route police raid on the Stonewall Inn. The rts that followed over the urse of three days are wily nsired to be the sgle most important event leadg to the morn gay, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights movement the Uned Stat.

THE GAY MEN FREQUENTED MANHATTAN PIANO BARS. SO DID THEIR KILLER.

Loted jt a block away om the famo Stonewall Inn, Juli’ is often lled the olst ntuoly operatg gay bar New York Cy.

It was origally tablished 1867 and by the 1950’s was attractg gay patrons. On April 21, 1966, members of the New York chapter of the Mattache Society staged a “Sip-In” and that helped tablish the right of homosexuals to be served licensed premis New York. The first meetg of what me to be the anizatn now known as PFLAG, Parents, Fai, and Friends of Lbians and Gays, took place here at what is now known as the Church of the Village, at 13th Street and 7th Avenue, then known as the Metropolan-Duane Uned Methodist Church.

LOOKG FOR THE GAY OLD DAYS THE EAST VILLAGE

Jeanne Manford, center, wh her son, Morty Manford, left, at the Christopher Street Liberatn March 1973, the precursor to today’s Annual Gay Pri March. In June of 1972, Jeanne Manford, a school teacher om Queens, marched the Christopher Street Liberatn March, the precursor of today’s LGBT Pri Para, wh her gay son Morty to show support for her child.

So many people me up to Jeanne and asked her to speak to their parents that she cid to hold a meetg for parents stgglg wh acceptg and supportg their gay children. That meetg took place on March 26, 1973, and eventually led to the foundg of PFLAG, which now has 400 chapters natnally and 200, 000 members, and provis rourc and support to the fai of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr people, and lobbi for greater unrstandg and equal treatment of LGBT people.

A MANC’S GUI TO: THE GAY VILLAGE, MORE THAN JT A LATE-NIGHT PARTY DISTRICT

It served as var schools for over a century and was sold to the Lbian & Gay Servic Center, Inc. Other anizatns that have been loted here (or got their starts here) clu SAGE (Senr Actn a Gay Environment), the Metropolan Communy Church (a LGBT ngregatn), the AIDS activist group ACT UP, and GLAAD (Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn). Mourners said a fond farewell to Gee Montague – the self-proclaimed olst gay the village – at his funeral today (Monday 11 April).