New BBC show will show the ‘beauty and diversity of the LGBT community in its full glory’
A new BBC series is set to take a deep, multifaceted look at LGBT life in Britain.
BBC Three’s Queer Britain will cover religion, body image, homelessness, racism and porn, and ask what it means to be ‘queer’ in 2017.
The show, presented by journalist and YouTube star Riyadh Khalaf, will start on 7th May and particularly aims to address concerns of Millennials (16 to 35-year-olds) in the LGBT community.
Over the course of six episodes, Khalaf will talk to everyone from LGBT people sleeping on the streets, those who have found safe haven in a religious family and gay men suffering from body dysmorphic disorder.
Khalaf, who has more than 280,000 subscribers on YouTube, said he was “incredibly excited for Queer Britain to be released.
“This was a real passion-project which has moved, inspired and educated me in more ways than I ever could have imagined,” he added.
“The series pulls no punches and goes straight to the heart of the issues facing LGBTQ+ people in the UK today.
“At times it’ll make you feel uncomfortable, shocked and maybe even upset, but overall I think you will see the beauty and diversity of this community in its full glory.
“This is a raw representation of modern Queer life – the highs, the lows and the high heels!”
Max Gogarty, executive producer for BBC Three, promised “an exciting series that offers a distinctive, contemporary and colourful look at what it means to be young and queer in Britain today.
“Launching a formidable new talent in Riyadh, a diverse and young team behind the camera, plus brilliant short-form for social around each episode, I’m sure it will have real impact with audiences and the wider community,” he added.
The announcement follows the news that BBC4 will air a series about LGBT people’s lives over the past 100 years in Britain, curated by Sherlock writer and star Mark Gatiss.
Queers will be an eight-part series of 15-minute-long episodes made up of monologues from new and established writers.
The show, created to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, which is being produced in partnership with The Old Vic theatre.
It will be shown on the BBC after being performed on stage at the The Old Vic in July.
The BBC also announced last month that Doctor Who will have its first gay companion when the show returns on April 15, with Pearl Mackie’s character Bill Potts coming out in the second line of dialogue.
The BBC Three show also reflects the Tate Britain’s Queer British Art exhibition, which opened last week.
The display marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
It includes some of the most remarkable depictions of sexuality in works from 1861 up until 1967, when homosexuality was still a crime.
