Poles (and legs) apart: The finale of Little Britain's live show featuring Matt Lucas as Dafydd. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
According to today's Sun, Little Britain, which has been running on Polish TV since April, has become an inspiration to gay Poles in their struggle against homegrown prejudice. Unlikely as it might sound, Matt Lucas' Dafydd Thomas (the only gay in the village) and David Walliams' Sebastian Love (the man in love with the prime minister) have become icons of gay pride in a country whose government was condemned by the European Commission for its homophobic views.
The irony, of course, is that here in Britain, the show has prompted grumbles from some liberal quarters for its slapstick portrayal of homosexual mores and manners. "The figure of Dafydd is now routinely used by anti-gay right-wingers," wrote Johann Hari in the Independent. Yet the reaction in Poland has been very different. "Little Britain has made a huge impact here," said Mirka Makuchowska, of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia. "It has even made many think of moving to Britain."
And no wonder. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski banned gay marches when he was mayor of Warsaw. Earlier this year, on a visit to Ireland, he said that if homosexuality was freely promoted, the human race would disappear. "It's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals," said his twin brother, Jaroslaw, Poland's Prime Minister. "That's obvious." (He obviously doesn't have a Sebastian to attend to his every need.)
Actually, it should come as no surprise that broad or bawdy depictions of homosexuality should inspire a beleaguered gay underground in a culture where homophobia is tolerated, or even actively encouraged. After all, not so long ago, much the same thing used to happen here. Just think back to Are You Being Served? To out and proud gay libbers, John Inman's mincing Mr Humphries looked like a hackneyed caricature, but for less demonstrative gay men like Matthew Parris, he was a godsend, as was Kenneth Williams a decade before. "Hail to them all: the ludicrous old queens; the drag artists; the pantomime homosexuals," wrote Parris in The Times, after Inman died, this year.
Is racial (racist?) humour comparable? I was never a fan of Love Thy Neighbour (even as a kid I recall how its cackhanded attempts at interracial wit made me feel awkward and uneasy) and I'm sure a lot of people laughed at it for all the wrong reasons. However it was an education for me to meet Rudolph Walker, the fine actor who played Bill Reynolds, the black neighbour in that sitcom. You could tell he thought the show had its faults, but he didn't regret doing it, saying it gave black Britons a rare peaktime presence in a medium where they were still wilfully ignored. And although I still think Love Thy Neighbour was woefully misconceived, I could see his point of view. It was a start.
Naturally, Little Britain is nothing like Love Thy Neighbour (although it is quite a lot like Are You Being Served?). Personally, I can't get enough of Dafydd or Sebastian, but even if you've had your fill of Lucas and Walliams, it's great to hear that they've cheered up Poland's embattled gay community. If yours is a way of life that dare not speak it name, surely even a crude or clumsy stereotype is a lot better than nothing at all.
