BACK IN JANUARY, singer Will Young had to appeal to the Mayor of London for assistance in tracking down a homophobic bus driver who had verbally abused him while he was travelling on a bus in London.
Like many people who identify as LGBTQ, Will Young is no stranger to homophobia, sneering and bullying. This week, he told The Telegraph that somebody in the recording studio who was working on his song ‘Leave Right Now’ had been making homophobic comments behind his back at the time.
The 39-year-old won Pop Idol in 2001, came out as gay in 2002, and released ‘Leave Right Now’ in 2003. Leave Right Now held the No. 1 spot in the British charts for a few weeks, and made it to Christmas No. 1 in Ireland in the year that it was released.
The singer told The Telegraph about the comments that were made behind his back while he was recording the song:
I didn’t know at the time, but when I was recording ‘Leave Right Now’, someone at the record company said I ‘sounded gay’ and kept making me re-record the track.
Some poor judgement on the unnamed producer’s behalf. When has anything that sounded ‘gay’ ever turned out to be anything other than an absolute banger? This song included.
Young also briefly spoke about the way that homophobic language makes him feel.
There’s a real flavour to homophobia and bigotry. It’s really shaming. People don’t understand the power of language.
