Gay and Under Attack | Reggie Yates’ Extreme UK | Free Documentary

foreign being a British guy in 2015 is not easy 21st century pressures are changing no way the way we live women are seen as Superior to men the way we love if you are a Muslim you cannot be gay that's as simple as that even the way we look at silicone yeah this is mental in this series I'm traveling to the extreme edge of modern British masculinity I mean what's your body going to be like at 30. I'd be lucky to get that if you know that then what are you doing in an era of gay rights marriage even Parenthood some Brits still struggle to accept homosexuality a woman and a woman and a man and a man I just don't believe that the male the female even the animals they are like this and some call being gay a decision a bad decision I'm sorry to cut you but you're comparing homosexuality to stealing and um you can carry but for those who feel they have no choice the effects can be devastating he kicked my bedroom door opened he was like I want you out of my house by midnight and we didn't speak for three years leaving gay men under attack from their own Community man go die and even their own family my own mother said to me if you murdered someone I'd still accept you but you being gay I can't accept you for that gay marriage became legal in Britain in 2014 but in some black and Asian communities homosexuality itself remains taboo South London has the largest population of black men in the UK and it's my home so it seems like a good place to start I'm going to meet a guy called Max today in his Barbershop now if you've ever actually been to a black barbers you'll know that it's the best place for debate it's the best place for talking and talking about something like homosexuality inner black barbers for me we'll we'll stir up some real honest answers and potentially start a conversation that I've never had or heard in a place like this Max how are you doing Max's parents are from West Africa just like mine what age would you say you realized that you were actually a gay man um to be honest I guess deep down I always knew in the back of my mind but it wasn't up until the age of 18 that I accepted it within myself one day I kind of just I don't know what the trigger was I just kind of woke up and I was like yeah this isn't working for me like I'm gay yeah how long did it take to go from that realization to actually approaching that conversation with your father I I didn't actually have that conversation with my father you didn't no right one day the past of the church came up to me and she asked me if I was gay and at this point in time My Philosophy was like I'm not gonna tell people but if somebody asks me I'm not going to deny it and I said yeah and then she she asked me if my daddy yeah and I said I haven't told him yet and at the end of the conversation she said to me if you don't tell him I will so what she went on to tell him you're not taking that week to tell them and how did he react it wasn't great he kicked my bedroom door open gave me this long 10-minute lecture and he was like I want you out of my house by midnight and we didn't speak for three years Max tells me they now talk just two to three times a year it's fair to say my father doesn't know who I am right now yeah based on your experience what would you say is most commonplace when it comes to West African parents and how parents react to that news I don't know I think a lot of a lot of people from from Africa are very religious yeah and I think that's where it starts excuse me auntie where are you from um okay and how long have you been in the UK 16 16 years but okay now that's your little boy is getting his hair cut right yeah what is your attitude towards homosexuality for instance if your son came out as gay how do you think you'd react it's quite hard he said something that's a culture or a thing first and foremost I will ask my son why because for us to be quite honest they think it's a big big example today it will be so so hard even for me because in the first place I don't even get it gay I don't even get it excuse me excuse me brother it's fairly obvious what your religious beliefs are but um culturally I'm really interested in your point of view first of all where are your family from what's your background well my parents are from St Lucia you're West India yeah okay were they born there and came over yeah and you were born here I was born here yeah how old are you now I'm 13. you're 30 years old well your views on homosexuality you do your way me to my way about me I don't agree with this one a lot of good comes from men and women you know like being together you understand not to put it like this way but even the animals they are like this you understand like the male the female even the plants are like this you know what would you do if your daughter actually came home and told you that she was homosexual I mean to begin with I'll be heartbroken to begin with I'll be heartbroken personally I would have to hope maybe it's a phase is something and uh does that mean that you believe that homosexuality is something that a person chooses people are choosing to become homosexual what would you say to that it's almost and no offense to you but it it's like it's probably the most ridiculous thing anyone can say that someone would choose to be gay if you look at the world we live in being gay isn't like it's it's never been a good thing it's never been something easy to do so why would why would anyone at any age wake up one day and say you know what I want to be a homosexual so the people in the street can throw rocks at me and so that I could be rejected by my family I don't know because obviously you could be with a woman that relationship may not have worked out maybe she'd done your head in maybe this you know like she wasn't you know she was a bad woman she oppressed you you know she made you feel low all this stuff but there's many out here there's many out here the good one may have come after this one do you think that your versions of Happiness can exist side by side I think so it's like if you if you go to a restaurant with somebody and one person wants to order pizza but the other person wants to have chips what will make one person happy is the chips what make another person happy is the pizza you can sit at the same table and we can eat we can probably be in the same restaurant but he will have his table there and he will be you know doing his thing on his table there and I will be on my table with you over there I've always sort of said that the attitude towards the LGBT community in the afro-caribbean community are massively different based on uh on generation in talking to Ibrahim I realized that it's not necessarily the case for um for everyone you know Abrahim is only a couple of years younger than me and his mindset couldn't be any more different even though he was born and raised here it's hard to ignore religion in any discussion on homosexuality especially among black communities in the UK 7 out of 10 black britons come from Christian homes and over a quarter of all churchgoers in London are black until the age of nine I was one of them Maya very faint memories of going to church were uh Pentecostal so um you know it was lots of singing lots of dancing there were a lot of people catching the Holy Ghost I'll never forget Anthony Lynn to capture the Holy Ghost and break in a chair that was a good time we're going to a a Seventh-Day Adventist Church which I've never been to before so um I don't actually know what to expect Seventh-day Adventist followers believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and they practice what they preach no smoking no alcohol and no gambling but does that list include being gay how you doing sir how you doing you're all right um I am here to meet Pastor Michael B is that him there is that his picture ah let's say what's your name sorry nice what are you handing out here you didn't give me one I'm sorry why didn't I get one Ellen because he was talking to me appreciate it thank you um when are you uh when are you going to be up from there I'm not preaching today I'm just a supervisor yeah the young people are doing the program today all right okay Pastor Michael has a young team that he's training up the man leading today's service is Pastor Andrew nice to meet you too nice to meet you just out of Interest how old are you look I'm 27. and you're going to be up there running things today not not running things but just giving a little humble word man yeah yeah so how long have you been doing them been doing this and haven't been preaching to be honest I've been preaching since I was 16 years old I left church and I came back you know when you say you left the church what does that mean like in the sense when you're growing up in church and even though I come here one day a week during the week I was always you know otherwise occupied or other things you know girls you know money drugs like you name it living in an area in London that's almost impossible not to get involved in them things yeah we need the preacher in here a preacher that can talk a lot is a good thing surely that's what you want isn't it nice to meet you both [Music] there is quite a lot of young people there's quite a lot of people under the age of 25 here and I imagine that he's probably a big part of that my sermons are not this is just me like you or leave it I'm an honest person I'm breaking it down the world or seeing God how we present him people outside the only God they see is you and if we show them that God is like this you can't do this and you can't do that and look at you you're going to hell if we show them that that is what God is like then they're not gonna want don't miss this now they're not going to want to come to the place where God is and now God gets the blame for our misrepresentation of him Andrew isn't what I was expecting he doesn't talk like the pastors I remember and feels like a typical young guy from South London and the theme of his sermon tolerance and acceptance many times in my life that I cannot come to you I look down on you [Music] a congregation this mixed and he spoke to parents in a way that I've been speaking to my mum for years and I think it really resonated with people here and so it's pretty much done now Services over people are leaving and at past Andrew is uh shaking everyone's hands I'm gonna get my hand shaken up and maybe have a chat with him too but everyone wants to shake Andrew's hand so I grabbed the chance to have a quick word with the Head Pasta over lunch hello hello I've been told to come for some lunch what do we have today this is amazing has no am I the first person to come up has no one eating you it's all right oh no no no I can't be that guy why would you send me that first the whole room's hungry and you sent me up there and I'm like yeah where's my place okay got it got it if your daughter for instance were to come out would you still have a relationship with her do you think you see in times I think in the home setting we have a clear understanding of what is acceptable I may be able to point out to you you are my child I love you but if they were to choose that lifestyle then they wouldn't be able to live with us you see membership of the church is a privilege not a right when you become a member of the church you are committing to a particular way of life that is informed by scripture if you along the way choose to to to live a life different from that you can't be part of an Adventist faith community so far so traditional but Pastor Michael is from an older generation and moved here from Kenya maybe the younger Pastor Andrew who was born and raised in London like me thinks like Heidi something that gets sort of whispered about in church in my limited experience definitely in talking to religious friends that I have now is attitude towards sex yeah and issues like homosexuality what do you believe so I don't believe this and this is saying as blunt as possible I believe we have to go to marriage you know I sincerely believe you know I've I've been a sexual because gay people can get married now and that's my point the truth of the matter is my sincere belief is that when I have a woman and a woman and a man and a man no hatred no animosity but I just don't believe that mother and father are vital in society so as a traditional family set up yeah I strongly believe that you know with all my heart this is not half no I strongly believe that [Music] Acceptance in this church at least only seems to go so far the delivery might be different fundamentally Andrew believes the same as his Elders um there's almost there's almost slim to naught chance of you being accepted by the church if when you come to a church and your pastor is cool he's got this pretty edgy crazy background he's in his 20s and even he can't get past that point [Music] it's estimated that one in 10 people are gay in the UK and one in 300 are transgender T in LGBT so if it's tough being black and gay I can't help wondering what it must be like to be black and trans I'm on my way to Burton on Trent to find out I've never actually met a transgender person before and I'm really looking forward to meeting Tallulah and hearing her story because I mean we're not exactly in the biggest of towns and in the biggest of cities which instantly throws up its own issues but as well as that the fact that she's a mixed race and the fact her father is of Caribbean descent I'm really Keen to to be educated on what her life is actually like hello hey how you doing I'm good Taylor nice to meet you tallulah's parents separated when she was three so she lives with her mum and Grandma glennis who is still coming to terms with a new granddaughter how is it having Tallulah as a house guest then oh he's all right she's all right shouldn't say she still can't get to Christmas I was going to say very nice I do what you got to do yeah just get used to that and everything you know Tallulah yeah um it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that there is the entirety of your youth on this little shelf me as a boy that I was about 15 I think and that was literally just before I came out at school about my at the time the sexuality I was um so that's them toothpaste is that one sexuality you was yeah because when I was at high school I didn't really have a choice of Adventure to come out as gay because there was no kind of education I still being transcendental is about so nobody understood it so my only option was to come out as gay because I was so feminine and so I had to come out as gay just so people would get off my back right but at that point you were attracted to to girls no no I've always been in my head a straight woman but to everyone else at the time because I was distracted attracted to to guys it was after I left school that I came out as transgender and started Living as a woman then this is how I came out a bit about being this is it that's me all right what two you got can I get a brew one a bro yeah see this is a this is a massive indicator of how good a host you are how good your Brew is I think I'm quite a good hey oh really yeah all right apparently leave bizarre because I'm a Libra so what were you uh what were you called before I was called Aaron before Aaron okay there we go don't be shy Moment of Truth no pressure I said seven and a half out of ten it's seven and a half no disgusted I think it's a tan it's a really good tan I'll I'll give you a name I may just be the water around here you're not used to it where are we headed to the garden now that we're away from her Nan there's one question I've been dying to ask Tallulah not to be massively intrusive but you say that you're you haven't had your boobs done but you seem fairly together in that area yeah um so what it means at the minute I'm on hormones my bees were probably about an A but I wear like a c bra and then stuff it with um these sticky chicken fillet things right and but yeah it gives me quite a realistic bosom I think yeah so what kind of guys do you date now like I always end up getting with white guys but I always get approached more by black guys so say to me I'd go there with you in like in four years time which you've had surgery but I won't go with you now because you've got a deck that kind of thing is there a is there a big black community here I wouldn't say there's a big black community in Burton but there is a black community and it's very quite a hard thing for them to get their their head around it's very taboo isn't it on the drive up here I realized just how Asian this area is there's a lot of Muslims and a lot of seek people I mean how do they react to you not very well to be fair I do get quite a lot of death threats from the Asian Community how do those death threats into your face through the door oh yeah to my face down the street I'll be walking down to the streets until I bottles thrown up my head a lot of people saying are you batty man go die literally saying everything that you could think of to try and get a reaction out of me and I just didn't I just didn't give in why did you choose not to to react to that just because I'd probably get beaten up with this to react to it and I can't really afford to have my face being broken I'm not totally surprised Tallulah has had grief from some in the local Asian Community some Muslims struggle to accept gay people let alone transsexual ones few are willing to talk about it on camera but there is one online and it turns out that he's gay himself homosexuality is okay and is not wrong you can't change your sexuality no matter what you do the man in the video is a hill Ahmed a 23 year old student from East London [Music] maybe he can shed some light on how his fellow Muslims view gay people have you always been in this this bit of town did you grow up around here no no I didn't grow up around here I grew up in Waltham Forest so like I moved here like a year ago basically since kind of I moved out my parents house and stuff at what age did you realize that you were you were gay well I mean the age I realized I was gay was like literally last year um age of 22. so that's when I actually came out to myself yeah and the reason why it took so long is because My Religion taught me that being gay is not a thing yeah I was pretty much born into actually a very kind of strict uh form of Islam you know I was basically brought up believing that the West is You Know The Enemy that the UK is at war with Islam even though you were living yeah even though I was born here and I was living here and I was just basically like you know all the non-muslims are the enemy and that they want to destroy Islam and I really believe that at your most extreme Point what would your view on homosexuality of being well my view would have been that it's into death and I also kind of believe that I deserved being gay as a punishment from God because I'd done something evil in my life well [Music] all right I'll be your basket man yes thank you get what you need yeah so he'll no longer practices his religion Fridays used to be Prayer day but today he's having friends over instead I think cookies cool go for it there you go he's forced to keep the location of his student flat a secret from his family coming out was just the beginning of his ordeal what was it that um made you decide to leave home basically when I when my parents realized I was um I was gay um did they realize or did you tell them the way the way they'd found out is that they'd um using the router they checked my internet history um and then when they checked that area Okay um he's into he's into other guys um and then like conclusively yeah conclusive um so then basically like they call me back home and my dad basically said I know the secret that you've been keeping from us that was the most Dreadful Fair inducing moment in my life he's my dad but he believes that gay people should be killed it should be stoned to death including his own son include amounts including me yeah being like the Pakistani community and there's a very strong shame Factor you know there's a the whole thing about honor so for example my own mother said to me um if you murdered someone I'd still accept you but you being gay I can't accept you for that I can't accept that was there ever a conversation about curing your homosexuality did that ever oh yeah that was actually the main reason why I ended up living leaving um the house they basically said the only way you can stay in this house is if you agree to be exercised to get the the demons out of you because they were convinced that the reason why I'm gay and the reason why I was dying religion was because I was possessed and for like the next two months they would like you know recite the Quran over me make me bathe in holy water at one point I almost took my own life in my own in my room that was when I decided you know what I can't stay in this house because if I stay here um probably not going to be around for much longer sorry they were out of champagne oh yeah how does that work for you guys so Hill moved into student accommodation he hasn't spoken to his family for over a year how important has this circle of friends become to you the reason why I'm here actually like alive is because of my friends and if it wasn't for them then I don't know where I'd be 13. but the hills past still haunts his future having sex right now is a bridge too far for me like I would be okay with like a kind of like a romantic relationship with another guy um but having sex is something that kind of I'm not sure if I'm ready to go into that um if I see two guys to get that kissing or something like I'll have like this emotional kind of immediate like homophobia it's been so deeply indoctrinated in me from since childhood that it's just it's hard for me to kind of weed that out and get rid of that and Shake That kind of thinking off foreign thing about the hill story is that it actually happened here in London I'm flabbergasted that someone is having to go through an exorcism because their parents are disgusted by their nature by the fact that they're actually a homosexual person he's now alone he no longer has a connection to his family and you know the thing that seems most painful for him is losing that relationship with his mama mother and his and his younger siblings that's just really sad all down to the fact that he is he is being himself [Music] fastest growing religion in the UK there are now over 1.5 million Muslims under the age of 25. with numbers like that it's hard to ignore the influence imams can have on young minds likes the Hills we contacted over 200 moths to find someone to speak with me on camera and in the end only one Imam agreed Muhammad is 29 and from Edinburgh but he's having to meet me independently without the support of his mosque so Mohammed what are your beliefs when it comes to homosexuality my beliefs are the same beliefs that my religions have when it comes to these issues obviously you go back to the sources that you have and you try to find your answers in there okay so what would your answer be I personally believe that it's an unnatural manifestation of a natural desire in Islam we are told that this is not something that can become a feeling there's something that is unnatural and if it's something that is in you then you can tackle it you can deal with it what would you say the general attitude in your mosque is towards homosexuality honestly speaking people don't speak about it I've received some anonymous emails they never mention their name probably out of Shanice so you've had somebody at your mosque approach you about their own homosexual feelings what was your reaction to that if you really trust Allah if in his heart he has a feeling for Allah which is more stronger than any other feeling that and I will for sure tell him that as a man as a straight man I personally feel that I'm attracted to every single beautiful woman I have this urge but just because of this urge it is is it Justified for me to go after every single beautiful woman that I find at Rector you know the people who are kleptomaniac they have the urge to steal so you think it's an urge I don't believe it's an urge but something that he can control in the month of frosting for example especially in the UK for 21 hours you're not eating and in the beginning you have struggles you're struggling but at the end of the month you'll find it very normal I'm sorry to cut you but you're comparing um something like homosexuality to stealing and no no no you're comparing you're preparing I'm talking about what to eat I'm talking about the physical things so what would you do then if you're uh if your son came home and told you that I've not been able to tell you this before but I believe that I'm actually gay how would you react to that either if he's confused he should try and he should see that if he can find peace and comfort or love in a woman if he can't then I will tell him that the only option that he has is to live a celibate life if he can scripture is one thing but real life is another and I think if you're living in the real world you have to question some of the things that you're not only taught but some of the things that have been left behind for you to learn from but Muhammad's views are in line with all major Islamic organizations in Britain and on these streets some interpret those views in Extreme Ways this is White Chapel in East London we're making a program for the BBC on our attitudes towards homosexuality do you happen to chat about it on camera why not no I'm not on camera man why is that no no you sure yeah yeah definitely it's a major sentence but as far as assignments concerned but it doesn't take you out of the heart of this one so technically speaking yes you can be gay and we must why everyone's asking their private homes it's up to them yeah I'm not going to judge can you be gay or Muslim I don't think so because if you're following a religion you need to follow everything in that religion if you are a Muslim you cannot be gay if you are a gay you cannot be Muslim that's as simple as that being a Muslim you can't be a gay or lesbian if you can't follow a very tiny rule then you are not in in the religion yeah you've got a couple minutes to chat to me on camera no I'll make you got a couple minutes I've heard some signs of Tolerance on the street excuse me sir have you got two minutes to just chat to me on camera no but the imams line does seem to hold true for some Muslims as the rest of Britain moves towards a greater acceptance of homosexuality in 2007 less than half of the UK population backed gay marriage Now 60 are in favor but support remains lowest among Asian and black men and I don't think the reasons are just religious it's really funny thinking about the relationship between uh music and culture because they sort of they sort of blur definitely in my experience anyway and when it comes to the idea of misogyny and homophobia particularly in black music I I don't know I sort of get quite I don't know I get a little a little funny talking about it because whether I like it or not the music that I love definitely in uh in bits of my past has has reflected a view that that makes me uncomfortable if I'm totally honest growing up around these attitudes and these hit songs it's not hard to see why so few black men come out in public [Music] but Max who I met at The Barbers has promised to show me where some young gay people do feel free to be themselves spider Max [Music] events like this are special and importance for young okay let's be people that are coming out simply because when they're at home they may not necessarily feel comfortable letting their family or their friends know that they're okay which effects of things that they have to hide who they really are but when they come here they can first find custom of your family that will accept you for who you are because we're all the same you know enough talking time to see things for myself [Music] see guys it's unbelievable to witness this parallel world there's guys daggering guys in there if you know what daggering is I mean you can put that together yourselves even if you don't know what it is there are guys daggering guys in there that doesn't happen well clearly it does it didn't happen in my world until today I mean there's a Desi room up there there is a room full of Asian men who I can't even get close to right now with the camera because I just don't want to be seen and the reason that they don't want to be on camera is fairly obvious there is so much paranoia I mean we've had to come here because literally whenever we pull the camera out people are running in different directions [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] people doing to me motionless talking to you while you're mixing sorry I'm smart right yeah Reggie nice to meet you man and when it comes to our parents generation uh homophobia was pretty much commonplace and things are changing for the better but there still is that weird energy towards homosexuality and to be really honest with you I was a fan of black music it is reflected in the music it's there it's hard to ignore and you're playing black music all night so how do those two worlds sort of go together I think for me personally I grew up with reggae Batman long tour so whether or not I would whether I was gay or not it's part of my culture I've grown up for those music so take away the words the movement the energy I get from the beach I couldn't deny it to go in so I'm not going to let things like teaching man or any of those kind of lyrics really bother me I'm there to dance I don't care what they think about yeah I know that certain people do have a problem with it but I find it small the white community that has problems with the birth of the bachelor as well but then yeah it's not just smash man don't get me wrong hip hop dance dance the continent we've grown up here yeah does that make it okay it doesn't make it okay but there's a lot of things in the world that aren't less than 70 okay but so you'll never look at the same all overlooking all right what do you think the reaction will be that if you play an elephant man logo in a club like this they'll start looking on them they do the dance yeah and what they ignore is yeah it's like sticks and things are broken alone like that kind of situation it feels like Mark is trying to reclaim these songs struggling to find other gay men who will speak with me on camera 21 year old lesbian with a Jamaican dad agrees thank you for uh finding the time to chat to me thank you so much so do you think it's easier to be a gay girl or a gay guy in London I say it's hard to be a young black gay man I mean according to myself as a model as well he sees it as if everybody in our generation is going to accept people being gay then our generation when we have kids they're going to come back to us and say the recipe with donkeys and we must accept it into income they've seen homosexuality as the white man's disease the way I've been put up it still has an effect on my mind at times and my muscles I'm gay I don't like the person here about two gay guys in that sex life that for me it was because it doesn't feel right but then I feel bad can you understand half of someone like myself that sounds absolutely mental because I'm sure the last thing that you want is for anyone to judge you will be Prejudice towards you exactly but it almost seems as though it's ingrained with EU towards towards gay guys it feels like that and because I noticed it I feel so bad for it but I can't help the way I think I can help the way I act on it but I can't help the way I think Nicole is trying to deal with her own homophobia and she won't let it stop her coming to nights like this they're just too important when I first came out I didn't know that there were so many black gay people in London I thought the majority of them were in SoHo majority of them were doing the work Community but I came out and I came to a lot like this and the whole club was full of pure black people and majority of them were all gay I was amazed there is a bubble around that venue that people are walking into and it's safe it's weird like it's a Bittersweet sort of thing you come out of a night like tonight feeling really positive that there is somewhere for young black men to go but at the same time you think wow there are a lot of people in 2016 who were still scared to be seen being who they truly are on camera but one person who isn't afraid to be out is Tallulah [Music] and she's Keen for me to meet her dad but first hair I think that one there this one yeah oh my God see look at me that's not too bad actually does it spice up your life yeah a bit totally back out but it would definitely show all the mountains up for like sometimes with my way so get them really big and long so that I can kind of like disguise it from the side do you know what I mean when you are shopping in here and you do see other black women I mean how do they react to you and they just stare a lot they just look a lot and um and then there's whisper amongst themselves be like oh my God that's a man they'll be like oh my god really hot no it's not and then they'll be like yeah look look at the throat and then but listen listen listen and then that that's the kind of whisper in it is how far away from being who you want to be do you think you really are um I'm a long way because I've only just started my transition said it's like four years on the waiting last unless I can get 12 and a half Grand together to have my vaginal pasta day and five going to have my boobs and two and a half gone to get this done then I'm a very long guy Tallulah is confident no one will be able to tell she once was a man when all the surgery is done including a vagina plastic it looks so good how they do it like it literally looks like a normal vagina and um yeah but the recovery is really long it's about six months in recovery you have to sleep with a dildo inside you for six months as well yeah to stop it from healing oh my God yeah surely there's another way of doing it no there's no way otherwise it's going to heal back together into it because it's man-made it's like a scar or a cut or a wind it's a long time but um some people will probably be into that yeah at least it would be quite deep laughs oh my God I'm not mature enough to have this conversation [Music] this Dad Simon has flitted in and out of her life he lives in nearby derby with his new partner [Music] oh yeah all right how you doing you're good yeah nice to meet you okay Simon yeah hello Reggie nice to meet you was just telling me that you haven't seen each other in a long time yeah you want to come through uh yeah yeah please Simon has spent the last four years behind bars so did you find out when you were actually inside I'm sitting there in the newspaper and um a guy was commenting was like flipping out goes look at these looks real he doesn't look real in that yeah so we're just looking and every single person was like no she's a real she's a real woman that no he me he's got a bigger chin and whatever you know what I mean so um I looked and I just went I thought to myself I wonder if it's my fault for not being there see everyone sees it as a default don't they no no no in a way where I think to myself I wonder if that's because I wasn't around much so she's she's grown up around her mom um it's April yeah she's going to find a lot of women and I'm listening to myself maybe if I was there more would she have wanted to be more of a masculine person and do you still think that way now no not at all I'm really surprised at your reaction what it is is my parents are like old-fashioned Jamaican Christian background Christian beliefs so that's the belief that I was brought up with but because I grew up in like areas which is predominantly white like I was in boarding school and then you two black people ever been to that school ever so you know how it feels to be different so yeah so to be segregated and to be treated different from other people I understand that as well yeah you know it's it's it all wasn't one that sort of helped me understand why she's the way she is at the end of the day what it boils down to is how a person feels comfortable yeah the other thing is I mean she she's my blood so but you surprised at your dad's reaction I was because I've been just so much by the black community as it was I thought well my dad's just going to be another one Simon thank you so much for having me not a problem it's been a real pleasure meeting you and um thank you for having me in your home and look best of luck with everything um hopefully get to see you again soon yeah definitely come to Pride on on the 12th which is in Derby there's a derby Pride yeah it's a date I will see you then yeah thanks again all right bye take care guys tallulah's dad really surprised me today given his history and their distant relationship there is nothing stereotypical about Simon's views I never thought he would be so accepting and so I can't help but think about sahil who I met at the start of my journey he too is still coming to terms with his sexuality but he's doing it alone without his mum or dad so I'm inviting him to join me at Pride next week let's hope there are no muslim anti-gay protesters there as it wouldn't be the first time foreign just doing a teeny bit of research there hasn't actually been a March as part of Derby pride in quite a few years because the last time a March happened in 2012 people were arrested there were people protesting there was hate speech some actually old placards which um had things written on them such as homosexuality equals Freedom gone too far homosexuality equals a crime against God and Islam is the ultimate truth things such as scum or screamed gays will go to hell which just sounds ridiculous to me I mean here we go look gays gays gays we hope you die of Aid to think that grown men were actually chanting this and thought that it was acceptable to me is mind-blowing this is happening in the UK not 30 years ago three years ago one of the Muslim protesters was successfully prosecuted for using abusive language [Music] I'm on my way to Derby to attend my first ever gay pride with Tallulah and I really hope that sahil shows up now I desperately want Dale to come today because I think him being one of many being part of the majority and not feeling different would be an incredible thing for somebody like him who's only been out a year but he's just not taking my calls I suddenly feel like a really annoying angry girlfriend chasing someone down so the chances are he's changed his mind about coming how's that for Simon how are you hello okay you look great thank you I thought I'd make a bit of an effort yeah with being My Hometown Pride exactly this will actually be my uh my first ever pride and I'm sort of looking around because I was expecting to see a little bit more sort of Celebration or not in town just yeah right but when we get into town you'll probably see it all more yeah [Music] you must work down here first to get down there it is today it's definitely today right now and it should fit hey yes it's this way so this this is this is it we're here right yeah this is it this is the it's not massive tiny community in in Derby right this isn't what I was expecting at all um one thing I was expecting was to be here with sahil and to um to see this through his fresh eyes as well um but he's not here he still isn't responding and um I'm starting to really believe he's not going to turn up today which is a shame but at the same time I mean just sort of looking around in a weird way I can understand why he might not necessarily feel that he fits in even here because I mean it's a very white pride isn't it and outside of myself in Tallulah there's one other person of color here so definitely Tallulah is a minority within a minority within a minority today [Music] foreign in Derby almost one in five people are black or Asian so if one in 10 people are gay by right in Derby alone there should be 5 000 homosexual men and women of color it seems like there's a lot of people stopping to watch yeah what do you think they're thinking they're funny who can wow what colorful people although I spot many black and Asian faces in the crowds of Shoppers they're just here to watch not take part until I spy just one other person of color actually marching excuse me sorry to interrupt one of the most interesting things I've found about today is how few afro-caribbean or ethnic minority people there are at Pride why do you think they're such a small number because it's literally what four people three people I counted yeah I've counted you but oh there's another one a fresh one so what would the uh the the west west Indian yeah the black side yeah yeah what would that attitude be towards your sexuality well to be hon I'm not with that part of the family but from experience of what I've seen I think it would be total rejection totally meanwhile from the uh the white side they're a bit more tolerant a lot more in fact why is that I think white people are they think they're not but they are Derby pride is now in full swing and I get talking to the Asian man I spotted earlier hello hey how you doing all right thank you I'm rich what's your name nice to meet you okay not to cry but uh I take it you are a gay man yourself are you a Muslim gay man bisexual why do you think that you're the only Asian man here today foreign [Music] Asian people have stayed away too much to lose too much to fear whilst Derby Pride might not have been as big as I expected there's also been no opposition so it's almost time to leave Tallulah and prepare to head home but not just yet it's a hill I thought you weren't coming well I'm here now come here good to see you get the time before I've never been to one before this is my first time as well right yeah what do you think it's amazing it's actually like the the kind of like the atmosphere like have you ever been around this many people who are out before never like even most of my friends like my friend's Circle most of them uh they're straight just how comfortable do you feel in an environment like this I feel it's I do feel very much out of place to be honest with you why because like I don't want people to I know people will be looking at me and be like wait is this guy here to blow us up no no I I mean I mean to be fair I mean how often do you see like a guy with a bed who looks like a proper Muslim who is a Muslim um in like an LGBT priority vote like now I'm here with you with you guys um and that's that's like that's fine um but alone I I wouldn't stay here so Hill is convinced everyone sees him as a Muslim first and a gay man second but is that really true [Applause] [Music] so we're gonna keep really updates so I'm just steps away begins to Hell's gonna follow me out but he stayed in there and it looks like the hill is having the time [Music] I wasn't like kind of expecting to stay here very much like after like but [Music] based on what you told me in the past about how you feel and how you reacted to gay people being in an environment like this now feeling the way you do about yourself how are you reacting to men holding hands and then kissing um I've had this visitor on far behind me for a long time um but now today here I'm not sure if I still have it but it kind of hasn't read its head listen enjoy your night have fun yeah and uh get back in one piece all right get in there get in there go on take care he's this close to running back to experience my first ever Pride with sail was awesome because it was his first time at a day like this and his journey has taken a massive massive leap in a in a positive direction I think today he really is embracing who he truly is and he is not suppressing it anymore and that can't be anything but positive now on the other hand the the negative side of today I think was that an event like this didn't really have many people that looked like me there um to be exact I think it was maybe four it says a lot about how comfortable people like me feel to be who they truly are publicly [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 55,857

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), The Insider: Reggie Yates, reggie yates, uk, united kingdom, lgbtq, gay in uk, lgbtq uk, POC UK, transgender in uk

Id: Iw5wPzFCqVU

Length: 54min 25sec (3265 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 26 2023