The edian and actor says the 'only gay the village' character Dafydd Thomas was meant as entertament, not as a tool for bullyg.
Contents:
- LTLE BRA’S MATT LUS SAYS ‘ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE’ WAS MEANT TO BE A ‘CELEBRATN’ OF GAY PEOPLE
- ARE YOU THE ONLY GAY PEOPLE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
- HOW TO COPE WHEN YOU'RE GAY AND LONELY
- "I WAS LERALLY THE ONLY GAY TOWN." FEAT. DANIEL SMYTHE
- GAY A SMALL TOWN: LIFE HAS IMPROVED FOR LGTBQ CENTRAL PA., BUT FEAR PERSISTS AT TIM
- CHANGG PERCEPTNS OF WHAT IS LIKE TO BE GAY MOSW – ONE TOUR AT A TIME
LTLE BRA’S MATT LUS SAYS ‘ONLY GAY THE VILLAGE’ WAS MEANT TO BE A ‘CELEBRATN’ OF GAY PEOPLE
* i am the only gay in town *
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.
ARE YOU THE ONLY GAY PEOPLE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
So today's qutn om a nversatn I was havg wh a iend San Fransis. I was the Bay Area back May workg on a client project and while I was at lunch one day we got to talkg about the differenc of the cy and the suburbs. I thk I live the epome of the qutsential New England town. It's a small town populatn wise but big terms of the amount of lands - lots of farms, homegrown thgs, 4H clubs, etc. It's really small town at s bt. As we were talkg about my neighborhood vers hers where she liv right the heart of San Fransis she had this look of worry for a moment and said "Are you the only gay people your neighborhood?" My rponse was, "Well, we don't have any gay neighbors that we know of, but I'm certa there are at least a few others." * i am the only gay in town *
‘But people were labelled ‘the only gay the village’ at school. It was meant as entertament, not to make young gay people sad.
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.
HOW TO COPE WHEN YOU'RE GAY AND LONELY
A great memorable quote om the Ltle Bra movie on - Daffyd: Anyway, seeg as I am the only gay the village, I shouldn't thk anyone would be remotely terted. Good Teal: Oh no, lots of folk around here drop anchor poo bay. * i am the only gay in town *
As we were talkg about my neighborhood vers hers where she liv right the heart of San Francis she had this look of worry for a moment and said “Are you the only gay people your neighborhood? ” My rponse was, “Well, we don’t have any gay neighbors that we know of, but I’m certa there are at least a few others. So whether s at the school Open Hoe or the kids soccer gam we are the ‘gay fay’ whether we like or not and therefore have a rponsibily to te all those around that we are no different to them any way.
Part of realizg you're gay, or bi, or trans, or non-bary, or anythg other than cisgenr and heterosexual is acceptg you’re different—and somewhat separated—om the majory. Here he shar his journey to overe the sense of isolatn he felt growg up gay a small U. At the time, there were no real gay role mols except for Graham Norton and Jack om Dawson's Creek—and I certaly didn't intify wh him bee I wasn't a football player.
I felt like I was pletely on my rried on until I was 16, when I started gog out to gay bars my hometown. I ma one gay iend, who I'm actually close to now. For the first time I've been able to form a good group of gay iends and create my own support work.
"I WAS LERALLY THE ONLY GAY TOWN." FEAT. DANIEL SMYTHE
I'd go on gay chatrooms but that was jt a facels nversatn wh someone who uld have been anyone. I thk if I'd had iends who were gay when I was growg up, my life would have been so different. I now know there were other kids at my school who were gay, but they didn't e out till much later.
Daffyd: Anyway, seeg as I am the only gay the village, I shouldn't thk anyone would be remotely terted.
Queerns felt like a taboo, somethg rarely talked about asi om the ocsnal hhed mors: “I heard so-and-so is gay! But that same girl who got straight As, attend church every Sunday, and feigned tert watchg The Bachelorette at team bondg stggled wh ternalized homophobia, shame, and reprsn of her inty on a daily basis. On late nights durg high school, I remember searchg the Inter for some sort of tt that uld “diagnose” whether I was gay, hopg to prove that what I feared wasn’t te.
GAY A SMALL TOWN: LIFE HAS IMPROVED FOR LGTBQ CENTRAL PA., BUT FEAR PERSISTS AT TIM
I grew up a muny where adults I looked up to would refer to queer people, people like me, wh slurs, and where “gay” was ed as an sult.
Ben me to talk to Alex Hall“I’d say beg gay and young is pretty much the same as beg straight and 17. Livg Billgham, I was the only gay out boy our year, and there was one girl who was bi, but I’d get ston thrown at me, verbal abe, punch thrown at me.
"It was somethg I jt accepted about myself, but beg able to talk to other young gay and bi people was great"Ben's thoughts on MESMAC“My fay have been amazg. "Ben found the support said:“Wh me, I didn’t have to al wh anythg, was somethg I jt accepted about myself, but beg able to talk to other young gay and bi people was jt great.
CHANGG PERCEPTNS OF WHAT IS LIKE TO BE GAY MOSW – ONE TOUR AT A TIME
“There’s not much for young women g out, we’re tryg to sort that out, as to know you’re not the only gay the village is fantastic. (Provid photo — Shir Filler) Rob Mathers of Saranac Lake also stat that datg the Tri-Lak has been hard and that he found the lol scene for gay men to be “very primive.
To expla this, he c homophobia that still exists the muny.
Mathers, who grew up Saranac Lake, says he realized he was “different” when he was around 4 years old, and he knew he was gay at 12. As far as other gay people, I knew none.