Celebrating Paul O’Grady’s trailblazing achievements through the years
30 May 2023, 14:30
As we celebrate Pride Month, let's take a look back at what Paul O'Grady's Lily Savage meant for LGBTQ+ representation...
After Paul O’Grady passed away in March, tributes poured in for the star, with millions of people remembering him as an LGBTQ+ trailblazer.
With his alter-ego Lily Savage, he became a household name in the 1990s and brought gay and drag representation to the mainstream.
As we head into Pride Month, we have put together a list of all the amazing things he did for the community throughout his incredible career.
Representing drag culture
Paul O’Grady was a fierce advocate for equal LGBTQ+ rights by taking Lily Savage from bars to TV shows on the country’s biggest channels.
Long before RuPaul’s Drag Race became so popular, he created and developed Lily Savage based on his female relatives.
In the 1980s, she went on to have an eight-year residency at the popular South London pub, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT).
It was a time of extreme homophobia in Britain, with Joe Lycett saying that Lily was able to make her comedy political, while still being “really, really funny”.
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Amazing response to a homophobic police raid
Lily’s run at the RVT in the 1980s coincided with the growing hysteria around HIV and Aids.
One night in 1987, police officers - wearing rubber gloves for ‘protection’ - raided the RVT while she was on stage and ordered everyone out of the bar.
Reflecting on the incident 34 years later, Paul said: “I remember saying something like: ‘Well, well, looks like we’ve got help with the washing up!”‘
He later wrote on Instagram: “I was beginning to think it was me – in fact, the South London Press, in an extremely homophobic article, called Lily ‘a lascivious act’ which I was very proud of.”
Fighting for rights
Paul regularly attended protests and marches demanding equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
One notable march he attended was in 1988 against Section 28, a government-imposed legislation which banned education or "promotion" of homosexuality.
In 2013, Paul protested outside Downing Street against Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-gay laws that outlawed the promotion of homosexuality.
The following year, he also spoke at a Lesbian and Gay Rights demonstration which coincided with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, against laws aimed at reducing Gay Rights in Russia.
Remembered by friends
Following his death, Paul was being remembered for his support for the LGBTQ+ community and for being "ferocious in the fight against Aids".
Sir Elton John wrote on Instagram: "Saddening news to hear of Paul O’Grady’s passing this morning.
"A brilliant entertainer, wit, and supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and the fight against AIDS and HIV who I was fortunate enough to spend time with including when he hosted @davidfurnish’s and my Stag Party before our Civil Partnership in 2005.
"Thank you for all the joy you brought into the world, Paul. You went places nobody had gone before and we will miss you very much."
Queer As Folk creator Davies also said on Instagram: "The saddest news. What a star. What a lovely man.
"He was ferocious in the fight against AIDS; he made everyone love drag; he once asked me if he could be in Doctor Who, 'I just want to wear a white coat and carry a clipboard and walk down a corridor saying I think it’s alive, Doctor'."
