Rsell Tovey, star of HBO's short-lived gay seri "Lookg," rells the negative reactns he faced om his own muny.
Contents:
- RSELL TOVEY: ‘BEG GAY MA MY REER'
- RSELL TOVEY: GAY MALE BACKLASH TO ‘LOOKG’ ‘BROKE ME, HONTLY’
- RSELL TOVEY: HE MAY BE PROUD BUT IS THE ‘WORST GAY EVER’ ACTUALLY SORRY?
RSELL TOVEY: ‘BEG GAY MA MY REER'
* russel tovey gay *
“Of urse I’m not gay. On Facebook, a s of homophobia appears unr imag of the mpaign, fans mentg that they are whdrawg their support of clubs they’d loved all their liv, that they’re a disgrace, disgtg, evil. Seeg this, ’s perhaps unsurprisg there are no out gay players the premiership.
But around his 30th birthday, somethg changed: Tovey (out sce he was 18) started playg gay. The gay rol are the bt for me. Beg gay has ma my reer.
” As well as The Pass, he excelled HBO’s Lookg, about a group of men San Francis disverg the plexi of ntemporary gay relatnships; he plays a gay man Quanti; next year he stars Angels Ameri, and recently he appeared on Broadway as Rodolpho Arthur Miller’s A View om the Bridge. “And ’s ma me realise that jt like there’s not jt one way to play a straight person, or one story to tell, there are a billn fascatg wonrful stori to tell wh gay characters.
RSELL TOVEY: GAY MALE BACKLASH TO ‘LOOKG’ ‘BROKE ME, HONTLY’
He was unprepared for the backlash, for the accatns of ternalised homophobia, and wc a ltle as he remembers.
If I’m gog to be seen as a ‘pneer’, a gay man and a performer, I need to make sure I put out a posive msage. He knew enough, though, to unrstand that homophobia still ns through the sport like a poisoned stream.
Even Greg Clarke, the FA chairman, said he don’t thk football is ready for a gay player to e out, addg that might be a “year or two” before ’s safe.
RSELL TOVEY: HE MAY BE PROUD BUT IS THE ‘WORST GAY EVER’ ACTUALLY SORRY?
Rangers midfielr Joey Barton has also admted that, the stands, if you “pull out of a tackle you’re a ‘poof’, ” while players e homophobic sults the trag ground. “I n’t image a gay uple feelg so fortable that they’d be happy to wanr down Wembley Way hand hand, n you? However ’s one thg for straight footballers to pot out homophobia, adds Donnelly, but que another for them to change.
“It has the effect of phg the blame on to fans and gay players themselv. Clubs need to be much more active sayg the game needs gay fans, needs gay players at all levels, what n we do to change this?