Brian Sewell A British writer has been slammed after labelling Coronation Street "the Sodom of the North", saying it has morphed from its "gritty, working-class" Lancashire roots to "shoddy, tinsel-edged glamour". Brian Sewell, a writer for the Daily Mail, says the characters are "showered, prinked and perfumed - particularly the men". In the Archaic article, headlined "Wall-to-wall gays, transsexuals, transvestites and teenage lesbians", Sewell argues that the soap has departed from reality. "Is it true that the lives of heterosexual Mancunians are haplessly intertwined with transvestites, transsexuals, teenage lesbians and a horde of homosexuals? Is Manchester now the Sodom of the North?" The comments have caused outrage among readers and British commentators. Under Sewell's column, Robin, of Sunderland, wrote: "This article is disgusting. For someone as 'distinguished' as Brian Sewell thinks he is, he has little concept of modern life. "People are gay, it's a fact, it doesn't matter whether you like it or not, it's happening." Coronation Street actor Charlie Condou has written an article for The Guardian in response, pointing out that in a cast of 65 only four regular characters are gay and while the soap has introduced a cross-dresser, the character is still straight and in a love triangle with two other women fighting over him. The actor plays Marcus Dent in Coronation Street - recently reprising his role after quitting the soap in 2008. He has revived his relationship with Sean Tully (Anthony Cotton), which will reportedly lead to the soaps first civil partnership. "Sewell seems to suggest there's something morally reprehensible in being gay, and that there's some kind of promotion of a gay agenda at work (led by a sinister-sounding "mafia"). But in fact you barely see a kiss from the gay characters, just like our heterosexual counterparts. It's not a "sexy" show," Condou writes. The actor draws to the article to a close referring to the recently axed Opera North production written by Lee Hall, after alleged homophobia. "Sewell's article worries me because it seems to be part of a change in mood that reminds me of the Section 28 years, when everyone was shouting out that the gays were taking over. This week's news that Opera North had pulled the plug on Lee Hall's opera Beached over explicit references by a gay character to his sexuality has added to this. It feels like we're moving backwards, and I find that shocking."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 8th July 2011 - 11:15am