We at Attitude, like the rest of the UK, were shocked and saddened by the news of the sudden death of Stephen Gately yesterday, gone at far too early an age of 33.
Much has been said about Stephen’s career as a popstar but it’s as one of the first openly gay, young popstars that we believe he will be most remembered for.
It’s easy to forget how different things were in 1999 when Stephen came out. The Labour government had just got in, the age of consent was still 18, and we still had section 28 and a whole raft of homophobic laws on the statute books. There was no Alan Carr, no Will Young. Westlife had just formed the year before and we didn’t know one of the members was gay. Coming out in pop was not the regular occurrence it is today. Before it happened, we had heard at Attitude that the freshest faced bounciest member of Boyzone was gay and was thinking of coming out but it was still an exciting and moving moment when The Sun printed the headline ‘Stephen Gately: I’M GAY AND IN LOVE’.
That was a significant first. Most celebrity outings weren’t always so mainstream and wholesome and hadn’t often been accompanied by a declaration of love. We’re all for living your life the way you wish to at Attitude, but Stephen declaring he was in love marked a moment when the tabloid media began to understand that gay people have relationships that were potentially just as meaningful as those of straight people. It marked the very first moment that the tabloids began to ‘get it’. They realised there was no way you could portray this sweet, gentle man that everybody in the country loved, as something other that what he was. He could not be demonised because of his sexuality.
We were lucky enough to be the very first publication to interview Stephen that year after he came out with our big cover shoot, the cover of which, you see before you. Stephen was still nervous that day, even though the reception had been overwhelmingly popular. I think he couldn’t quite believe how well the news had gone down. He told us how he had received lots of letters – from straight people commending him for his bravery and from young gay people struggling with their sexuality, whom he had inspired. Years later Mark Feehily would tell us that Stephen’s example had given him strength and hope, as Mark’s own handling of his sexuality would do for others.
In his very short life, perhaps Stephens’s legacy will be that, as well as being in one of the most popular pop bands of the day, he played a significant part in the evolution of being openly gay in public life. He was a sweet and gentle soul and when all is said and done, we think he would be pleased with that.
Our thoughts go out to his partner Andy and to Louis Walsh, to Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy and to Stephen’s family and friends.