Long before there were gay characters in Coronation Street, a controversial character was introduced. Hayley Patterson's story is well known to most Corrieblog readers and the writers still inject comments and issues into her dialogue. Even now, after all these years, Hayley will remark on her past or be subjected to unkind remarks or jokes at her expense. Hayley's story has almost always been handled with the utmost sensitivity though opinions about her recent storyline are divided. Maybe it's not keeping faith with Hayley's backstory as it has been presented to us, but it has given Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Neilson a good workout of their acting chops yet again.
It is usually a mistaken belief that transexual = homosexual but that isn't always the case. As with straight folk, some people ride one bus, some ride t'other and some take turns! When the character was introduced, Granada employed an advisor to make sure they got it right. Read her story on the Press for Change page.
There have also been a couple of cross-dressing characters too. Just this summer we saw Steve McDonald encounter a lovely woman on Malta who turned out to be a man in drag, played by a real life drag-queen and a few years back, Claire and Ashley stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that was run by a cross dresser. Does anyone remember that?
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How come Hayley hasn't applied for a Gender Recognition certificate under the UK Gender Recognition Act, 2004?
I think she should and it should at least get a mention on the show, even if just to have her open a letter and tell Roy that it came through!
There was a brief interview on CBC news this morning with Julie Hesmondhalgh, who was completely charming. She said when her agent called about the Corrie job she described Hayley as "fun," which led Julie to imagine a Bet kind of character - she said she dressed up quite flashy for the interview with a lot of lippy. She mentioned that it was every Northern parent's dream for their child to be on Coronation St. According to her, the reason people liked Hayley so much is that everyone wanted Roy to be happy - very modest of her!
Good question, Bibergirl....
But don't expect anything too well researched these days...
It's all about the ratings and the shock value these days :(
Agreed, Annie... or... so-much-so for the once Granada valued input of the PFC advisor/Granada (Brian Park) much vaunted relationship...