Will Young says it’s ‘terrifying’ to be gay in the UK now
"I thought we’d got better. I’m not scared for my life, I’m scared for the country"
Pop Idol star Will Young has said he feels it is “terrifying” to be gay in the UK amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and homophobic attacks.
The ‘Evergreen’ singer has also said he will leave the UK if the Conservatives win the next general election.
In an interview with The Mirror, Young, 44, said he felt “very let down” by recent comments from government figures including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
While trying to remain hopeful of a Labour win in 2024’s upcoming election, Young told the tabloid: “I won’t stay in this country if they [the Conservatives] win. No way. It’s too terrifying.”
“It deliberately creates a climate of fear”
Addressing Braverman’s recent anti-LGBTQ comments, which include claiming that asylum seekers are falsely purporting to be gay to help their case, Young told The Mirror: “I feel scared when you see a Home Secretary stand up and pick on LGBT migrants and talking about hurricanes.”
He continued: “It makes me feel a bit scared as a gay man. I haven’t really seen that before. It’s weird that I’m in my 40s seeing politicians making such radical statements. I’ve seen a lot of improvements – gay marriage, equal rights.
“I’ve seen a lot of rights come my way and now we are seeing a Conservative Party going for minorities. I thought we’d got better. I’m not scared for my life, I’m scared for the country. It deliberately creates a climate of fear.”
Young was speaking after not only Braverman’s comments, but also those from Sunak, who swiped at the trans community when he told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t. A man, is a man, and a woman, is a woman, that is just common sense.”
It also follows calls from the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay to ban trans women from female wards.
Meanwhile, there has been a sharp rise in anti-trans hate crimes, with a report linking it to increased anti-trans attacks in the media and by politicians.
Will Young is appearing at the Labour Party Conference to launch his new campaign, the Coalition to Stop Animal Testing.