Paul O'Grady: How Lily Savage defied police who raided a pub with rubber gloves

Paul O'Grady, who has died astatine the property of 67, became a prima for his drama and presenting - not to notation his emotion of dogs. But 1 pre-fame communicative shows his relation successful warring for LGBT rights.

O'Grady was preparing to spell connected signifier arsenic his resistance change ego Lily Savage astatine the Royal Vauxhall Tavern successful southbound London 1 Saturday nighttime successful January 1987, erstwhile a constabulary serviceman burst into his dressing room.

At first, helium thought it was a antheral stripper. But it was the existent thing.

"He was truthful rude and truthful aggressive," O'Grady aboriginal recalled. "When I came retired connected the stage, the spot was heaving [with police] and they were each wearing rubber gloves.

"And of people I said, 'oh good, person you travel to bash the washing up?'"

What mightiness person seemed similar a throwaway enactment has gone down successful past arsenic an illustration of deadpan defiance successful the look of suspicion and often hostility towards cheery people.

"This is simply a clip erstwhile HIV was rampant, and the constabulary had the bigoted presumption that if you touched a cheery man, you'd get HIV," campaigner Peter Tatchell told BBC Radio 4 connected Wednesday.

Around that time, newspapers were informing astir the usage of amyl nitrate, besides known arsenic poppers. It was described successful the Sunday Telegraph arsenic "the caller information cause successful the pub, arsenic casual to bargain arsenic crisps", which could marque "users much susceptible to the slayer Aids virus".

It wasn't illegal, and the proposition it made radical much susceptible to Aids had already been debunked. But successful December 1986, the Metropolitan Police raided the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a long-standing cheery pub, and confiscated 22 bottles arsenic a "noxious substance".

The pursuing month, 35 officers returned - with their rubber gloves.

"It was pandemonium," said O'Grady, who was a fixture astatine the venue for 8 years. "People were scared. Tables and chairs were going over. The constabulary were highly aggressive.

"I went upstairs to Breda, the landlady, to archer her - and the adjacent thing, there's a load of coppers successful the beforehand country dragging her out, leaving the children behind. God knows to this time wherefore they raided it."

He said helium could lone enactment it down to constabulary homophobia, with the Aids pandemic giving them "the cleanable excuse for them each to travel successful and origin trouble".

"Funnily capable that week, I went up to Manchester and worked different club, and determination was different raid the aforesaid week. So it seemed to beryllium the manner astatine the time," helium said.

O'Grady told the Observer helium was carried retired of the Vauxhall Tavern "saloon girl-style, kicking and screaming". Eleven radical were arrested and 2 customers were injured.

O'Grady was reportedly among those arrested. According to 1 mentation of events, erstwhile the table sergeant for a name, helium gave it arsenic "Lily Savage". When the serviceman asked for a "real" name, helium replied: "Lily Veronica Mae Savage."

According to the National Archives, constabulary wanted to portion the venue of its late-night licence by gathering grounds of drunkenness, "lewd conduct" oregon going implicit the capableness of its licence.

But nary complaints of drunkenness had been made by section residents, and so the licence was renewed the pursuing month.

The raid sparked a backlash from the LGBT assemblage and landlords of different cheery pubs, portion the Campaign for Homosexual Equality wrote to the location caput to accidental they were disquieted "that immoderate officers of the Metropolitan Police are embarking connected a deliberate argumentation of harassment of cheery pubs".

The section MP adjacent got involved, asking the location caput astir the fig of officers involved, the cost, and "the grounds connected which protective covering was worn by officers".

The reply from a inferior curate came that the raid was a "routine operation".

Disposable gloves were utilized "to support officers from the hazard of corruption by Hepatitis B oregon Aids arsenic a effect of accidental wounded from immoderate drugs paraphernalia which mightiness person been recovered connected individuals searched during the operation", helium said.

O'Grady's tiny enactment of absorption was 1 crushed wherefore helium was held up arsenic a leader by galore successful the LGBT community.

Tatchell said: "He began successful cheery clubs and bars astatine a clip erstwhile societal homophobia was astatine its height... this was an ugly, unsafe and precise unpleasant clip for LGBT+ people."

O'Grady was "fierce successful his beliefs and principles", helium added.

"He was a fierce hostile of the Thatcher authorities implicit its attacks upon the LGBT+ community, peculiarly Section 28, and helium was appalled by the levels of constabulary harassment that were inactive going connected close done the 1990s."

O'Grady was a patron of Tatchell's instauration and was readying to pb its forthcoming run for the constabulary to apologise for their historical persecution of the LGBT+ community, the campaigner said.

Stephen Richards, a resistance queen from that epoch who performs arsenic Lola Lasagne, told BBC London: "Lily was 1 of those radical who conscionable went, 'No, I'm not having it', and and stood determination and fought for us.

"As we each know, we yet moved done those times... but it's down to radical similar Lily and Paul who made that possible, surely successful our scene.

"The full federation contiguous is mourning due to the fact that of For the Love of Dogs, the chat show, the vigor show, everything.

"But for our community, we've mislaid 1 of our own, and 1 of our originals, and we beryllium him a lot."