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Role models have always been an integral part of gay culture. The glitzy world of Hollywood and showbiz provides OTT personalities who can make camp homosexuality seem a harmless extravaganza. Less beautiful people can always aspire to the quasi-androgynous charms of Beckham in his tight, white, scanty undies. For those still nervously in the closet, role models are like a secret security blanket, offering the possibilities of being out like them - one day. Decent gay role models who do charity work and don't appear in tabloid exposes can make straight folks believe that gays are not a tall threatening to their cultural values.
Quite where you might put the jazz singer, George Melly (pictured) - who died recently - is hard to guess. BBC1 paid a retrospective tribute to Melly by filming his last few months as he suffered from terminal dementia and emphysema. ‘Goodtime George’ enjoyed a hedonistic life. His excessively colourful zoot suits were his hallmark as he took the stage to sing blues songs rich with the filthiest innuendo. His first autobiography was called Rum, Bum and Concertina and describes his gay adventures in the Navy which appeared to be remarkably tolerant of a middle-class, Jewish, homosexual in its midst. He later turned more bisexual but continued to have a succession of mistresses whilst having an open marriage. His nicotine- and gin-soaked voice represented a lifetime spent in louche jazz cellars. A trouper to the last, he was still performing live, weeks before his death - wearing a scarlet kaftan and velour hat. He truly enjoyed living and the evident decline in his faculties as the film progressed was poignant to watch. He perked up noticeably when his ex-lovers came to bid him a last farewell. Melly was, additionally, an expert in surrealist art and fly fishing as well as being a film critic. Yes, he was selfish in his treatment of his long-suffering wife, Diana but he resonated vivacity, wit and culture and never faced homophobia. Life isn’t a rehearsal and Melly went for enjoyment rather than office drudgery.
For Iranian gays, living a life of gay abandon is not an option. The penalty is execution. There is a way to cope, however, and BBC1’s Transsexual in Iran pointed to a solution. If a gay man undergoes a sex change, then relationships with another man become possible. With a police permit to have the operation, you can go to a friendly clinic in Tehran for the necessary operation. Islamic law will regard the transsexual as female and not homosexual. This film told the story of a number of desperate gay men and women who were willing to put themselves under the surgeon’s knife. Sadly, most of them subsequently regretted the decision - the pain of the operation, the difficulties of getting a job and, more than anything else, the fact that their families officially disowned them. Only the police seemed to treat them with more respect. Leaving Iran to live abroad as openly gay was not a choice for many. Prostitution was the most likely alternative job. Somehow the showbiz life style of George Melly seems a little superficial.
If we’re looking for more local role models, up north, then we might want to consider these alternatives. Of course the characters in Coronation Street have long offered attractions for gay men: Rita, Bette and Vera are fag-hags to their finger tips. The cardigan brigade has always seen Alan Bennett as a national treasure although he would vehemently avoid taking the title. Again from the world of theatre, Sir Ian Mckellan, former pupil of Bolton School, is active on all our behalf in promoting gay rights.
If we go back in history, St Aelred, abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in the mid twelfth century is a possible choice. He openly adored a good looking fellow monk called Simon and wrote poetically about his feeling of love and friendship for men. He saw friendship as a deep and noble state of mind that brought you spiritually close to God. So, we may not want the austerity of living like Cistercian monks nor his remedy for carnal lust - sitting in a barrel of freezing water - but Aelred was able to adjust his gayness to his religious calling. Again, it makes ‘Goodtime George’ seem rather self indulgent.
Nick Tyldesley
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