Interview - Stewart Campbell: Without prejudice, who are the real gay icons?

It is a question Stewart Campbell pondered last year on a visit to the National Portrait Gallery. The London venue asked 10 high profile gay people who their gay icons were and created an exhibition around the 60 people featured in the responses, from Ian McKellen to Sandi Toksvig and Elton John.

The exhibition, which ran at the NPG all last summer, also included portraits of Benjamin Britten, David Hockney and Francis

Bacon.

"I thought it was a really provocative idea, this notion of what makes a gay icon," says Campbell.

"The term is floated about so regularly in the media and people talk about celebrities like Madonna and Kylie as gay icons, but seeing the exhibition made me really think about what it actually means – and if it actually means anything."

Campbell, who as concerts manager at the University of Sheffield, is in charge of bringing the music of classical composers to a Yorkshire audience, began to wonder if he could bring an equally thought-provoking event to the North. Initially, he had an idle thought to organise a small concert featuring the work of gay composers. However, as the weeks turned into months, the project expanded into a two-week series of events, which starts next week.Split into four sections, the project celebrates gay men and women in the fields of fashion, the arts, music as well as those who have made a social impact. Each of the figures selected will be celebrated in an event where someone will argue the case for their inclusion.

So, internationally renowned fashion journalist and writer Kristin Knox will present the case for Alexander McQueen, while Andy Warhol will be championed by University of London professor Mandy Merck and award-winning author Paul Bailey will discuss the life of Quentin Crisp.

Campbell, who has worked tirelessly on the project with a minimal budget, says he has "barely slept" in the last few months, but sleep can wait.

"For me the project isn't about waving a pink flag, or standing up for gay rights," he says. "It's an art project. It's about celebrating great art or great icons who have brought us great art – be that in fashion, literature, music or whatever. The fact that they are gay is almost a secondary aspect."

Campbell, however, is aware that his project could act as a lightning rod for the gay community and for people who believe in standing up for gay rights.

"There are lots of 'gay icons' who are appointed by the media, but I hope this series of events will make people examine a person, who might happen to be a gay man or woman, and to examine the substance and depth of that person," says Campbell.

"The project celebrates a number of people who were incredible human beings and the things they achieved, often while facing extreme prejudice, have had a huge impact on wider society."

Campbell is also aware that the prejudice faced by, for example, Oscar Wilde, while not as prevalent, is still present in society today.

"The exhibition is entirely open to anybody. People from lesbian and gay communities might take something from the exhibition, but equally people from any community can come along and enjoy it. I hope that people leave the events having learnt a little more about some extraordinary human beings who have achieved some extraordinary things – despite the prejudice they faced because of their sexuality."

Campbell says he hopes that people will also question the notion of what the term which inspired the whole event, Gay Icon, actually means. Is it those, like Oscar Wilde, Joe Orton or Leonard Bernstein, who left a lasting impression on the arts, or someone who devoted their lives to working for and within the gay community? Campbell is in no doubt over his own Gay Icon. "Benjamin Britten is one of my favourite composers, not just because his music is beautiful, but because he was writing about love and actually about being a gay man, when that was something his contemporaries were

being sent to prison for," says Campbell.

"To stand up for his beliefs and to produce such extraordinarily beautiful work while facing that kind of prejudice makes him a real icon, for me."

Gay Icons Project, University of Sheffield and other venues, November 19-December 11. For more details call 0114 256 5567 or visit www.gayiconsproject.co.uk

LIVES AND TIMES UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Alexander McQueen – Genius of a Generation: Kristin Knox pays tribute to the late fashion designer. November 25.

Quentin Crisp: Paul Bailey discusses the life of a true English eccentric and his autobiography The Naked Civil Servant. November 26.

Leigh Bowery: Shaun Cole on the 1980s club host, outlandish artist, fashion designer and tour de force. December 3.

Andy Warhol: Mandy Merck explores Warhol's relationship

with human rights activist Susan Sontag. December 5.