Lorraine Kelly talks of her ‘duty’ to ‘break down barriers’ for trans people on TV
Kelly spoke with passion about platforming trans stories, saying: "The trans community has the odds stacked against them anyway"
By Gary Grimes
Lorraine Kelly has spoken about her deep connection to the LGBTQ+ community and how she feels a ‘duty’ to stand up for the most marginalised among us, the trans community, on her talk show.
The presenter and national treasure recently spoke to Metro about her early days growing up in Glasgow in the 70s and her first brush with the queer community. “I found my tribe very early on,” she told the paper. “When I was a teenager, my best friend Ray was gay, then his friends became my friends, and your circle becomes wider.”
Kelly, who came of age in the midst of the AIDS crisis, said she realised early on that queer communities needed to be defended. “I felt it was my duty to stand up and say, ‘No, this isn’t right’.”
For over a decade, Kelly has platformed LGBTQ+ stories on her daily talk show, and just last year she officiated a gay wedding live on air to mark the 10 year anniversary of the first same-sex marriage in Britain in 2014.
She has made a particular effort to shine a line on trans issues and stories, featuring such guests as the British Army’s first transgender officer, trans model Talulah-Eve Brown, and trans couple Hannah and Jake Graf who came on the show to discuss their journey in having a child.
“We’re breaking down barriers in a gentle way,” Kelly said. “But I think it’s actually more effective than perhaps a big documentary.”
Kelly spoke with pride of how people both gay and trans communities have trusted her with their stories, and the importance of not making trans people justify their existence on air.
“I don’t like when trans people have to come on and try and justify their experience because no one else has to. It’s really about showing the person behind the label – we’re all far more complex than labels,” she went on.
“People look at statistics and they don’t see human beings so that’s my job. The trans community has the odds stacked against them anyway, trying to navigate a new world that’s gone backwards. When I grew up, people in the 70s and 80s, people were more tolerant about trans than they are now.”
Kelly, who was in 2015 awarded the Honourary Gay Award at the Attitude Awards, was speaking whilst promoting her upcoming debut novel The Island Swimmer, which has been described as a “feel-good and big-hearted” story in the vein of Maeve Binchy.