Queer as Folk: How Russell T Davies' drama changed people's 
2024-02-23 19:49:40+00:00

Queer as Folk has been heralded as life-changing - and even life-
saving.

First broadcast 25 years ago, the TV series depicted three characters
living in Manchester's Gay Village in a frank, funny and explicit way
that had not been seen on UK TV before.

Popular soaps like Eastenders had featured gay relationships, but
such portrayals were rare and controversial.

Welsh screenwriter Russell T Davies' series came to be regarded as a
milestone in LGBTQ+ representation.

Rob Keetch, from Cardiff, was 35 years old when the programme was
first aired on Channel 4 in February 1999.

He had come out as gay five years earlier and said the series was
"huge".

"It really changed people's lives," he said.

"For the first time people were seeing gay people as ordinary folk on
screen - they were seen as teachers, solicitors, schoolboys and
neighbours."

Mr Keetch said, at the time, "95% of the British public saw gay men
as a joke, like John Inman in Are You Being Served?"

"But this allowed the LGBT community to actually be seen as real
people," he added.

"And issues that the rainbow community were affected by were being
seen."

Dale Jones was 33 and still finding his way as a gay man when he
first watched the series.

"I think it gave a sometimes brutal, in your face portrayal," he
said.

"It was very liberating if you were newly out and allowed you to not
feel ashamed of your own lifestyle."

Gavin James Cromwell, from Newport, said he remembered seeing the
trailers for Queer as Folk and thinking: "What the hell? Is this
something I can watch? Is it rude?"

He said it made him realise he was "not alone".

"It's not just me, and there is a world out there that is accepting
with people that understand and are going through what I'm going
through," he added.

Mr Cromwell said the series was like "an education".

"A lot more friends and acquaintances started to come out and felt
more comfortable and confident, including myself, to be more open
about who we were, what we liked and not to feel ashamed.

"It also got people to ask genuine questions and discuss and actually
find out what it was like to be LGBTQ+. It was a game changer.

"Back when Queer as Folk had come out there was nothing at all in
Newport to do with LGBTQ+, and if it was it was underground, it was a
huge risk to come out and pretty scary."

He said the show "normalised" being gay.

"Russell T Davies literally saved lives with this show," he added.

TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan said he did not think another
broadcaster would have aired the show at the time.

"Channel 4 has a legacy of doing shows that serve underserved
audiences," he said.

"It was one of the shows that paved the way for a lot we have today.

"It was incredibly daring, as it depicted lives that hadn't been
written before."

Since Queer as Folk, Russell T Davies has gone on to write numerous
series with LGBTQ+ storylines - including Cucumber and It's a Sin.

The Welsh screenwriter said in an Instagram post on Friday to mark
Queer as Folk's 25th anniversary that the series had "changed [his]
life".