Olly Alexanr: Growg up Gay

Contents:

• GROWG UP GAY, BBC2, REVIEW: ‘A G OUT THAT WAS RAW, EMOTNAL BUT ALWAYS VOLVG’
• YEARS & YEARS’ OLLY ALEXANR PRENTS NEW BBC DOCUMENTARY ​‘GROWG UP GAY’
• WHY EVERYONE – LGBT OR NOT – SHOULD WATCH OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY
• OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY
• OLLY ALEXANR: THE YEARS & YEARS ONTMAN DISCS POWERFUL NEW DOCUMENTARY ‘GROWG UP GAY’
• OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY

GROWG UP GAY, BBC2, REVIEW: ‘A G OUT THAT WAS RAW, EMOTNAL BUT ALWAYS VOLVG’

In 1984, wh Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party power, a group of lbian and gay activists, led by Mark Ashton, fd unlikely alli a llective of Welsh mers takg dtrial actn followg p closur. Origal drama seri om Rsell T Davi explorg the passns and pfalls of 21st-century gay life.

Set and around the Manchter 'scene', this groundbreakg Channel 4 drama, documents the liv and lov of young gay men Stuart, Vce and Nathan. Olly Alexanr: Growg Up Gay, BBC iPlayer. A Fabulo History of Gay Stland, BBC iPlayer.

YEARS & YEARS’ OLLY ALEXANR PRENTS NEW BBC DOCUMENTARY ​‘GROWG UP GAY’

Celebratg the postwar history of Stland's gay muny which, over 70 years, has seen gay men and lbians transform om Stland's pariahs to Stland's pri. Stland was over a behd England and Wal crimalisg homosexualy but now has the bt gay rights Europe: nothg short of a revolutn.

Growg up Gay, BBC2First shown on BBC3 earlier this month documentary Growg Up Gay was one of the stand-out piec of missng the BBC’s seri markg 50 years sce the Decrimalisatn of Homosexualy Act, which is sayg somethg nsirg the qualy on offer elsewhere. “After we e out we want to tell people we’re proud and happy not sad but I also thk growg up gay a straight world has really affected me and that n be hard to say, ” Alexanr said one of many straight-to-mera nfsns that h he expand on that feelg notg that at school “part of me really liked beg weird, liked beg different but another part jt wished I was like everybody else, wished I was normal… I n’t believe I jt said that, ‘normal’, I hate that word. ”Tom Hisx Growg up Gay (Photographer: Dunn Stgemore)The sger’s willgns to lve to the darkt recs of his psyche – and the p tears he shed while dog so – ma for ocsnally upsettg but always volvg televisn but where the film really shone was Alexanr’s gently probg nversatns wh other young gay heard om Tom, still stgglg wh bulimia, om Conor who had been badly bullied at school and, most memorably om crystal meth addict Shawn, whose g out saw him kicked out of home and who adms that he often his the extent of his problems om the people he meets bee: “I don’t like anyone thkg I’m weak, vulnerable or damaged goods.

WHY EVERYONE – LGBT OR NOT – SHOULD WATCH OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY

”Olly Alexanr: What you n do to help gay and bi men ChechnyaShawn’s honty was enough to break your heart – and clearly did almost break a visibly distrght Alexanr’s. Growg up Gay is available on BBC iplayer. Bis ontg Years & Years, Olly Alexanr is a prolific voice when to val issu such as discsg mental health, prsn and LGBT+ inty, and his latt project se him prentg the new BBC documentary Growg Up Gay.

OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY

His experience is jt one page the story of a crisis LGBT mental health the UK, which se gay and trans people 40% more likely to experience prsn than the average person, twice as likely to m suici and seven tim as likely to take ’s the figur that provi the startg pot for new one-off BBC3 documentary Growg up Gay.

OLLY ALEXANR: THE YEARS & YEARS ONTMAN DISCS POWERFUL NEW DOCUMENTARY ‘GROWG UP GAY’

Part of the broadster's Gay Brannia season, the show se Olly Alexanr, the charismatic ontman of Brish electroni tr, lve to the liv of Sean and others the LGBT muny who are battlg a myriad of mental health, a subject Olly Alexanr: Growg up GayAnd mak for a powerful watch.

OLLY ALEXANR: GROWG UP GAY

Alexanr’s boyish charm eas open the subjects of Growg Up Gay, om Connor, a self-harmg 13-year-old once thrown down a flight of stairs for g out gay at school, to Tom, an LGBT stunt who spirals through six cycl of bge eatg and vomg each day. And although their fal statns are somewhat different, don’t take long to see that all their journeys started wh a battle wh homophobia and their own like thisRather than pated as sob stori, however, the acunts are treated wh credible sensivy thanks to the plaly scere prenter – Alexanr handl each of his meetgs wh genue warmth, not to mentn a torrent of tears.

In the most touchg moment of Growg Up Gay, he opens up to his mother about his mental health stggl, a topic never spoken about between the pair. ”Olly Alexanr wh his mother Vicki ThorntonYet Growg Up Gay isn’t only a personal journey for the host. ”Simply roundg up stori of LGBT mental sufferg would make for a touchg documentary, but Growg up Gay go well beyond that.

Here’s where the show evolv om powerful to sential see Alexanr go beyond the LGBT muny, talkg to schoolchildren – whatever their sexualy – as part of a queer role mol program, shown to make participants more acceptg of gay and trans people later urse radiat a clear msage of clivy that Alexanr argu should translate to a val area of the curriculum. “LGBT clive sex tn is one very clear way that we n help stunts who are stgglg wh their sexualy, ” he says, suggtg this would prevent young gay people om beg alienated at school. ”This msage is at the heart of the film: that anyone – queer or not – n help by engagg the nservatn about growg up gay and mental although Alexanr currently has no current plans for another film, his msage won’t stop at this documentary.