Raise the Roof with Lola

I'm back from seeing the great Sir Ray Davies play at the Royal Albert Hall tonight (Sunday night) - a review and photos to follow tomorrow when I'm wide awake. As ever, it took an age to get home despite it not being very far (I never understand that, but it's a law of nature). While waiting for the train to pull out it occurred to me that several thousand upstanding middle class people had stood up, jigged their funky stuff and raised the roof while we sung along to a song in praise of a tranny called Lola.

Now, far be it from me to presume that even half of the audience was in favour of gay, let along transgender, rights. But for those four minutes or so, we all loved Lola.

It was quite poignant in a way, given the publicity in the last couple of weeks about a gay couple in Malawi who've been sentenced to stiff prison sentences for nothing more than expressing their love by getting engaged. I quite like Madonna's statement about it (given that one of her charities supports Malawian children):

Madonna released the following statement in response to a Malawi court's decisions to jail two men for 14 years for the "crime" of homosexuality. After reading the statement, be sure to add your name in support of equal rights.

I am shocked and saddened by the decision made this week by the Malawian court, which sentenced two innocent men to prison.

As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation.

This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved.

I call upon the progressive men and women of Malawi—and around the world—to challenge this decision in the name of human dignity and equal rights for all.

Won't you join me by signing this statement?

Who knows if anything will change because of this but we've got to have hope. There is so much wrong with the world and yet all too often we pick on the weakest and most disenfranchised in society. We can, at least, do the easy thing and add our names to a petition in the hope that someone might notice.

And just for a few minutes in London, one of the worlds great capital cities, in one of the most august and venerable concert halls, the Royal Albert Hall, a load of people at a rock concert sang out loud and proud of their love for a transsexual who haunted Soho 40 years ago , if only in myth. Thank you, Sir Ray, for introducing us to Lola - long may she reign.