Actor Russell Tovey made the powerful statement, “We alienate our own, and we turn against ourselves. But we need to kick outwards. We must be united to stand against all that is being thrown against us,” during his acceptance speech for the Man of the Year award at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards that took place this week in London.
This call for stronger intra-community support and unity was a central theme of his remarks and subsequent interviews, particularly in the context of the political climate and his film work.
Tovey’s comments urging queer people to be better allies to one another and stop “alienating our own” stem from a combination of current political concerns and reflections on the historical and generational trauma within the LGBTQ+ community.
The immediate context for the urgency of his message was his stark warning to the LGBTQ+ community to be vigilant and “prepare ourselves” for a potential swing in government that could lead to the reversal of civil liberties.
He emphasized that internal divisions weaken the community’s ability to fight against external threats. Instead of turning on each other, the collective energy and focus must be directed outward to challenge those who seek to undermine LGBTQ+ rights.
The actor spoke candidly about his own struggles with shame and internal policing of his identity while growing up in the 1990s, the era his latest film, Plainclothes, is set in. He recalled desperately not wanting to be gay because society hadn’t created a safe space for it.
He noted that a “whole generation of queer people have Section 28 in our blood,” referring to the 1988 UK law that banned the “promotion of homosexuality.” This embedded trauma can sometimes manifest as judgment or division within the community itself.
His reflection implies that this inherited trauma and shame can lead to internal scrutiny and the “alienation” of community members who may not conform to certain expectations or who are more marginalized.
Tovey stated that queer people being allies to others within their own community is “something we don’t talk about enough.”
He stressed that while the battle for acceptance is often framed as “us versus the world,” the first and most critical form of support must exist internally to ensure that the most marginalized members of the community are not left behind.
Tovey’s message is a powerful entreaty for the LGBTQ+ community to put aside internal differences, heal from inherited trauma, and unify to effectively face the contemporary political and social threats to our existence and rights.
