There’ll be a backlash after Corrie showed a same-sex couple with a child... I’ve suffered abuse for being gay
Daniel Brocklebank’s fight for acceptance
Despite its cosy image, Coronation Street has never been afraid to push boundaries. So it’s perhaps no surprise viewers are about to see a same-sex couple raising a child – a first for the soap.
But while actor Daniel Brocklebank is delighted the show continues to move with the times, he is also bracing himself for a backlash.
Daniel, who plays gay vicar Billy Mayhew, is gay himself and knows that not everyone is happy to see him on screen, let alone involved in such a groundbreaking storyline.
He reveals: “Because I’ve been out professionally since I was 18, I’ve been aware that I was overlooked for roles because producers knew I was gay and I’ve had to put up with homophobic abuse on social media.
“People forget that you are a person, who still goes home to their family every night. I think they expect you to be thick-skinned.
“What they don’t see is when you shut the front door after a barrage of abuse and have to try to shake it off.” When his character first appeared there was disapproval from religious groups. Then scenes last year showing Billy romping in a hotel room with boyfriend Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) prompted complaints. “I think that caused more backlash than any other storyline I’ve had, and I had a lot of parents getting in touch saying they were disgusted and that they had to explain to their child why two men were kissing,” Daniel recalls. “My response to that was, ‘Great, that’s amazing that you’ve actually been able to educate your kid that love comes in all different formats’. “I have goddaughters aged seven and 12 and I phoned their mum and said, ‘Do you think we showed anything your kids shouldn’t have been watching?’ She said, ‘What do you mean? No. Why?’ And I thought, thank God.” Daniel, 37, grew up in the Midlands. His family ran a stud farm outside Stratford-upon-Avon. He came out to them at 15, but found life tough. “When I was growing up, the legal age of consent was still 21 and it was illegal for teachers to discuss homosexuality in schools,” he says. “I lived in a rural area, there was no internet and there were no gay role models on TV.
“It was the 1980s – all you read was gays were spreading Aids and gays were paedophiles. It was hideous.
“But I’m hoping LGBT people growing up now will grow up with less internal scarring than my generation because of shows like Coronation Street and because we are doing stories like this.
“When I was 14 I thought I was maybe the only person in the world who was gay. And it would’ve helped massively to know I wasn’t.”
In his Corrie storyline, orphaned 12-year-old Summer Spellman moves into Billy and Todd’s home following the death of her father, Drew.
Drew had asked Billy to adopt Summer after learning he was terminally ill, but Drew’s bigoted mother Geraldine insisted the little girl was better off with her and took her away.
However, a delighted Billy and Todd finally become permanent fathers to Summer – at her request.
“As long as a kid is loved, what does it matter if they have two dads rather than a mum and a dad?” Daniel says.
“There are plenty of kids brought up in single-parent households.” Same-sex couples only got the right
As long as a kid is loved, what does it matter if they have two dads? DANIEL ON HIS ADOPTION STORYLINE IN THE SOAP When I was 14, it would’ve helped to know I wasn’t the only gay person in the world STAR ON GROWING UP IN A TIME WITH NO GAY ROLE MODELS
to adopt a child in the UK after the Adoption and Children Act of 2002. Daniel says: “The story can only be good in terms of being able to open people’s eyes. Some may not even know gay adoption is legal. “Coronation Street has to move with the times otherwise we’re going to end up out of touch. We’re not a period drama.” Daniel, who lives in Manchester, began acting at 14, playing the lead role in Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Lord of the Flies in 1995. Three years later he was cast in hit film Shakespeare in Love, with Dame Judi Dench, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. He joined Corrie in 2014. While his career has undoubtedly brought him great joy, Daniel wonders if he may have left it too late for fatherhood. “I would’ve loved to have been a dad, but I’m coming up to 38 and think maybe I’ve missed the boat a bit,” he says. “I don’t want to be an old parent, you’ve got to have the energy for them. “I’ve got a niece, a nephew and three goddaughters, so I’ve got kids in my life.” He adds: “I think you have to be quite selfish to be an actor as your career dictates that you spend months, if not years, away from home.
“During my 20s I was living in LA and doing movies and not thinking about anything like families.”
Over the coming months there is more soap drama in store for Daniel as Billy’s past is unveiled. He says: “I’ve never stayed anywhere longer than two years but I feel very settled at Coronation Street.
“I just signed a contract taking me until next October and I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of storylines.
“The initial plan was the Church wasn’t happy with Billy being in a gay relationship and he’d move away. I said, ‘Really? You’ve just brought in a gay vicar, let’s do something really exciting with this – I’m not afraid of rocking the boat’.”
Daniel adds: “I feel proud of the adoption storyline and proud to represent my community. Last year at Euston station a woman burst into tears and threw her arms around me and said, ‘Thank you, you’ve helped my son so much’.
“I thought, my God, if I’ve helped just one person then it’s all worth it. Growing up I didn’t have any of that, so it makes me proud that I can make a difference.”
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