'I'm a film director focusing on LGBTQ+ love - battling homophobia drives me'
During LGBTQ+ history month, it's not uncommon for people to question why there's a need for such an event. While major strides have been made to improve LGBTQ+ representation in popular culture, queer history is rarely taught in schools and LGBTQ+ people still face harmful discrimination across the globe.
The same applies to queer cinema. Campaigners say there are simply are not enough characters who identify as LGBTQ+ on our screens, or enough storylines that explore and focus on the community - and film director Georgia Oakley believes that needs to change if we want equality.
Award-winning director Georgia recently shot the film Blue Jean, a powerful love story set in the 80s, a time where Section 28 was passed and LGBTQ+ people were feared.
Blue Jean explores identity in the 80s, a time where fear around the LGBTQ+ community was rifeSection 28 was a legislative designation for a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, it was in effect from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland and from 1988 to 2003 in England and Wales.
The film follows the story of Jean, a PE teacher who grapples with her true sexuality at a time where the LGBTQ+ community were met with such hostility. Leading a double life plunges her into mental health struggles as she feels unable to be unapologetically herself - a reality many LGBTQ+ people still face today.
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The Oxford-born director, known for works including Little Bird (2017), Frayed (2013) and Atonement (2007), wants to see more inclusive story-telling in the cinema, particularly around LGBTQ+ women as she says they lack representation - especially without the pressures of the male gaze.
"Representation is vital", Georgia said. "So many queer people I know can trace their journey of self-discovery back to a film or TV show they watched when they were a teenager. But there has been so little representation of queer women.
"When I was growing up there was a complete lack of queer role models on screen. And I was particularly aware of never having seen a lesbian relationship that spoke to my own experience.
Georgia says she'd never seen a lesbian relationship that spoke to her own experience"I wanted to see a couple who were very much in love, sitting on a sofa, watching TV in their tracksuits and having a laugh. I think it's important for audiences to see that. Because that's the reality for so many of us."
As well as her own experience, Georgia took her inspiration from a piece of research that involved interviewing lesbian PE teachers in the late 80s and early 90s about their experiences working during Section 28.
She continued: "I was struck by the intensity of that experience. The women spoke of being forced to lead a double life, and how the paranoia they endured led to spiralling mental health problems.
"Many of them were forced to quit the profession as a result of the legislation which wasn't repealed until 2003. I went on to meet some of those women and interview them further about the intricacy of their experience. Blue Jean is an amalgamation of their stories and my own experiences battling internalised homophobia."
Georgia spoke to lesbian PE teachers as part of her research - and the character of Jean was bornGeorgia added: "Section 28 was just one example of state-sanctioned homophobia that bred a culture of silence and shame for anyone who was involved in education from the eighties through to now. Its legacy cannot be quantified.
"Still now in 2023 there are queer teachers hiding their sexuality in schools for fear of the backlash they would face from students and teachers if they came out. We hope the film will provide some catharsis for those whose lives were affected, both directly and otherwise."
Blue Jean isn't a film for just those in the LGBTQ+ community, as Georgia says many people will relate to having to wear more than one mask in their lives.
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She explained: "I think everyone can relate to this idea of wearing multiple masks in the different areas of their life. The performative element of self, or how much of our private lives we reveal in the workplace is something most people have to think about at some point in their lives.
"This film could be relatable for anyone who has ever had any experience of being othered. It's not just a queer issue. The fact that we live in a world where white heteronormativity is seen as 'the norm' means that anyone who sits just outside of that will be able to relate to Jean's journey in the film."
Viv, Jean's girlfriend in the film, is much more comfortable with her sexuality as she isn't a teacher so has room to express herselfGeorgia spoke candidly about how Section 28 impacted her, and as a result, she identified with teenage character Lois in Blue Jean the most.
She admitted: "As a student whose life was affected by Section 28, I cannot help but see some of myself in the teenage character of Lois.
"She has her whole life ahead of her, but her chances in life are irrevocably damaged by this law. I read a review of the film recently that said the film seethes with quiet fury.
"Reading that made me smile because, consciously or not, I seem to have transposed my own teenage fury into the film. Fury directed both at the archaic rules dictating the world I grew up in, as well as those who sought to tell me how I should live my life."
Have you got a story to share for LGBTQ+ history month? Email: [email protected]
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