Will Young on growing up gay, coming out, abuse and basically being loads of fun
The Owen Jones Podcast
Owen Jones
4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2021
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Will Young became a music sensation after winning Pop Idol in 2002 - and became one of the earlier pop stars to come out. We discuss his brilliant book To Be a Gay Man, about what it was like growing up gay in a profoundly homophobic society, about what he was up against when he came out, the lived experience of gay people that straight people might not know, and the uncanny parallels with the onslaught against trans people. We have loads of fun so there's no excuse not to watch it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, so in Jones, welcome to the podcast. Today, Will Young. Obviously, a very, very celebrated |
| 0:13.6 | singer. We talked today, he's an author as well, would you believe, and his book, to be |
| 0:19.8 | a gay man, brilliant read. We talk, and by the way, I have to emphasize, if you're not |
| 0:24.2 | LGBTQ, you're going to get a lot out of this. This isn't just for our lot. We talk about |
| 0:29.2 | him growing up about what he went through after, you know, his huge rise to stardom. And |
| 0:35.8 | I think the experiences he went through, this is a really fun chat, by the way. It's, |
| 0:39.9 | I think you'll see what I mean. We have a nice, very, very good time chatting about everything. |
| 0:45.3 | So do give it a listen, support us on Patreon if you can, to keep the channel on the road, |
| 0:48.8 | so we can do our documentaries and all the rest, or use the support of function. |
| 0:53.5 | Er, please subscribe and leave five stars if you feel so willing. And that's me. |
| 0:59.8 | Listen to Will Young. |
| 1:03.9 | Well, look at you. I know, I know. I look like a fan. Very. No, you can look in |
| 1:10.0 | how, I didn't, you ever change. I think you always kind of look your hands |
| 1:14.5 | themselves. He's just been. I'd say, that's what I think that. Yeah, I'm happy with the way I |
| 1:23.8 | look. When I was younger, people actually said I was very confident and flattered when I was a |
| 1:28.2 | teenager. And they said that I looked a little bit like you. And actually at the time, |
| 1:34.1 | that was, I was, I was, I was, I was closeted. So I think they were kind of trying to say, |
| 1:39.4 | we think you might be gay like the gay band. Well, I mean, it's so interesting, because like |
| 1:45.7 | saying you're a fan of Will Young, it was basically like saying, was seen, seen as seeing your gay. |
| 1:51.4 | It was fairly, I sort of became that kind of thing, but that's a whole other conversation. |
| 1:56.3 | I, um, no, I like the way I look. I think you were a prettier version of me. |
| 2:01.7 | No, that's definitely not true. I am looking quite gated. I went quite, obviously, I thought, |
... |
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