And, like, I have privilege. I can walk away.
I can step away from this debate.
I can... I can turn the internet off,
and not look at those comments.
I can... I can just go under a duvet and forget,
you know, I can do that,
and that's a privilege.
Whereas trans people can't step away from themselves
and from society's transphobia, they can't.
I grew up in a little village, just outside of a town
called Falkirk, in central Scotland.
My early years were challenging,
and for lots of reasons. My dad was an alcoholic,
and a violent alcoholic.
And so we had to escape his violence
when I was about five or six.
So growing up in an environment with domestic abuse
happening in the family,
I think that has an impact on your adult life.
Certainly because we had to escape that
and get support from places like Women's Aid.
That's, you know, we, we did a lot of work and activism
as a kid, like supporting Women's Aid
and fundraising for them,
and I do that as an adult now, as well.
I've always felt like it's a responsibility
to give back and, you know, support charities,
and support people that are doing good work.
My dad was a big, massive homophobe,
and he used to single me out because I'm gay.
He thought I was gay from birth, by the way.
He took me to the doctor at one point
to see if the doctor could cure me.
I haven't had any contact with him for about 20 years
and I found out about his death through a letter.
It was really strange to get any money from him,
or anything from him at all.
So I bought a mattress. (laughs)
'Cause I thought, "Do you know what?
I'm gonna buy a mattress with that money,"
and lots of gay things have happened on that mattress.
(laughs)
That's all I'll say.
So when I was younger,
I was in a couple of different TV shows.
One of the major ones was ‘Holby City’,
and we had, I did a crossover with ‘Casualty’,
and I did this quite passionate kiss in ‘Casualty’,
it's like, about 10 seconds long, it's really quite a lot.
I mean, for me, it just felt natural,
because it was the right thing for the character.
I wasn't really aware of how much controversy
there was going to be around that.
That was in 2002, and there is a big difference
between a late night BBC Two drama,
and a prime time BBC One drama,
and there was a huge outcry.
But you know what we did? (laughs)
Me and the other actor, and the director,
when we did the kiss, when we filmed it,
we wanted it to be a long passionate kiss.
So if you watch the kiss, it starts off in one position,
and then we slowly spin round
so it's in the opposite position,
and we did that on purpose so they couldn't cut it
or make it shorter, because we're dead sneaky. (laughs)
And that was a purposeful choice,
'cause I knew if they could cut it, they would cut it.
And so it was left in, and it was quite long and passionate.
There was hundreds and hundreds of complaints.
I think what's shocking about that,
is even now, when you have a gay kiss,
or any kind of same-sex intimacy on screen,
when two people of the same gender show
any kind of affection towards one another,
you still get complaints now,
and I think that's...
I'm amazed at how little progress we've really made.
But at the time, I was quite proud of it.
We were on page three of ‘The Sun’, right?
And the picture of the kiss was right next
to the Page 3 lovely. (laughs)
So I love this idea of, like,
truck drivers being like, "Oh yeah- oh..." (laughs)
So, that I'm quite proud of.
Even now, I still get really kind messages from people,
saying, like, that they'd seen things that I've been in,
or that kiss in ‘Casualty’,
"That was the first time I realised that I was gay
and you really helped me."
And, I think, in terms of the things I'm proud of
in my career, just being able to be visible,
and for people to recognize something of themself
in the characters that I've played, that's a real privilege.
Right now, I feel, looking at what's happening in society,
there's a real push against LGBT rights,
and a real focus on anti-trans campaigning
from certain sections, and there's organizations that claim
to represent LGBT rights and equality, and actually don't,
they're actually anti-trans organizations,
and so, as someone who's always been quite outspoken
about equality, and respecting diversity,
and I've really always tried to speak up for the community
that I'm part of, I've felt like it's become
more and more important for cisgendered gay men like myself
to speak up in support of the trans community,
given what they're going through,
and how challenging it must be right now,
to just be a trans person in the UK,
given the toxic environment of the debate that's happening.
Because I started this petition to ask people to...
When the media speak about LGB Alliance,
I'd like them to speak about them honestly,
and say that this is a group that many people
in the LGBT community feel is a hate group,
and they shouldn't be platformed uncritically.
They can be platformed, but please do say who they are,
and lots of people feel that they're a hate group,
and feel that they are acting in a way
that damages and harms the LGBT community.
So I would just, that's what the petition is about.
So this person from LGB Alliance said,
"Oh, it's the typical gay glitterati."
And then went on to criticise me
and other people who shared the petition.
I was like, "Ooh, gay glitterati. I quite like that."
(laughs) So, me and some other activists got together,
and we started to set up a website around that,
but then we thought, well, that's a little bit, you know,
it's not very diverse, so we changed it to "LGBT Glitterati"
so it was much more diverse.
And we've been raising funds for the Legal Defence Fund
for Transgender Lives.
And we sell a lot of great, cool merchandise that is branded
as "LGBT Glitterati", and it's done quite well.
It's been really successful so far.
We've raised quite a lot of money,
but largely, what we want to do,
is just campaign in a positive way to try and uplift
other members of the community.
So it's really about gay people supporting trans people,
lesbians supporting bisexual people,
it's about showing mutual support within the community,
allowing us an opportunity to celebrate one another
and to support one another, visibly and vocally.
There was a particular point in my campaigning,
when I asked an MP a question.
I asked this MP why they had supported a fundraiser
that was about questioning hate crime guidance
that the police use.
This particular campaign was from a group
that used the hashtag #SayYesToHate.
So I asked the MP, "Why are you supporting this,
this person who's part of a group that says yes to hate?
'Cause that looks like a hate group, right?
Why are you supporting what looks like a hate group?"
And the MP didn't like the question,
they didn't like that question so much,
that they sent me a legal letter asking
for two and a half thousand pounds, which was terrifying.
I think that's...
You know, I'm not a wealthy person,
I don't get paid a lot working for the BBC. (laughs)
And also, it's scary to feel that someone's gonna use
their power and influence in a legal sense,
because this particular MP is a lawyer,
and the letter was very serious about his intent.
And all I had done was ask a question.
That's a real misuse of a defamation legislation,
as far as I can tell.
I was really grateful to be supported by Scottish PEN
in that, who support writers and bloggers and activists
in terms of their freedom of speech,
because, you know, we have a right to ask questions,
and people shouldn't be scared into silence.
So when you come from a minority community
that is historically oppressed,
and experiences this historic trauma,
online abuse has a real impact on your well-being,
your sense of safety, your sense of acceptance
within society.
You know, I got to a point where I felt unsafe
going outside, I felt unsafe being myself,
being an out, open gay man,
and that's something I hadn't experienced
for a really long time.
So it brought back a lot of experiences from my youth,
and, yeah, I had to reach out,
and get proper mental health support.
And, like, I have privilege. I can walk away.
I can step away from this debate.
I can... I can turn the internet off,
and not look at those comments.
I can... I can just go under a duvet and forget,
you know, I can do that,
and that's a privilege.
Whereas trans people can't step away from themselves
and from society's transphobia, they can't,
because that's their life, that's their day-to-day.
And because I know what it feels like, I want to help others
because I don't want anyone else to feel like I've felt.
I don't want anyone else to...
To experience the pain and the emotions that I've had,
from abuse throughout my life.
And all it does, is it increases my sense
of empathy for others,
and my desire to make sure that life is better for others.
Because the only thing I can do in my life,
is make sure that after I'm gone,
that the world is a little bit better than it was
when I arrived.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, I just want the world to be a better place
for other LGBT people.
And I'll never stop wanting that for others.
I see it as a responsibility.
So I don't think I should be given a reward for something
that's a responsibility.
I think everyone should be doing their best,
but it's lovely. (laughs)