Original version

BBC World Service South Asia

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Outlook: Glad to be gay: The surprise hit that became a pride anthem

Magazines & Reviews

Glad to be gay: The surprise hit that became a pride anthem

22/06/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, Glad to be gay: The surprise hit that became a pride anthem

Tom Robinson became a Pride icon with his top 20 hit Glad to be Gay

Tom Robinson became a Pride icon with his top 20 hit Glad to be Gay but taking the spotlight also came at a personal cost.

When Tom Robinson realised he was gay, as a lonely boy at boarding school in Britain in the 1960s, homosexuality was a criminal offence. The pressure of keeping his feelings secret pushed Tom into depression and eventually to attempt suicide. Salvation appeared in the form of an unlikely school for ‘disturbed and disturbing’ boys in the English countryside, and later, in London, Tom discovered his twin passions: music and gay activism. When police harassment of gay men rose sharply in the mid-70s, Tom wrote Glad to be Gay as a bitterly sarcastic response. He tells Emily Webb about how it became an unlikely hit, and how he kept updating the song’s lyrics to reflect not only changes in society but in his own life too. 

If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can find support and advice at the BBC Action line website, or at Befrienders.org 

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Laura Thomas

Photo: Tom Robinson performing in 2016 (Credit: BBC)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

Glad to be gay: The surprise hit that became a pride anthem

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service