Olly Alexander says older members of the gay community are his ‘heroes’
Years & Years frontman and former Attitude cover model Olly Alexander has urged fans to recognise the more senior peers of the gay community who paved the way to equality.
“This month is LGBT+ history month, many of us, myself included… owe a huge amount to the people that have gone before us,” he wrote in a post to Instagram.
“We owe many of our freedoms to the people who fought for our rights, who struggled through so much in the ongoing fight for equality.”
Alexander said his more senior peers made him feel “proud to be gay”.
“Those people, along with my friends and family in the wider community today, they are my heroes, they inspire me every day, they make me proud to be part of a community that celebrates diversity and fights for equality for all,” he said.
“They make me proud to be gay.”
Already liked some 25,000 times across Instagram, the post was originally intended for Alexander’s acceptance speech at this week’s Brits, after the band was nominated for Best British Breakthrough Act, Best British Group, and both Best British Single and Best Artist Video of the Year for ‘King’.
But after leaving the music awards empty handed, the 25-year-old says he didn’t want to miss the chance to raise awareness and encourage a dialogue.
“We didn’t win anything and that’s cool, but I thought I would put this here anyway and celebrate the end of LGBT+ history month”.
Alexander added he would donate the rainbow necklace he wore to the Brits to LGBT charity Stonewall, who would “do something nice with it”.
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