Placard, 'Vote'

“It was Marky J who came up with that idea and had the image in his head of a gorgeous transgender person on a bomb site saying ‘Vote Gay Not Grey’ because Liverpool looked so grey at the time, buildings getting knocked down and more homophobia. […] My thought behind it was that gay people are so colourful, we’re not grey, we’re not down, we want to rejoice. To me that’s where that came from.” Lady Seanne, speaking in 2017. Liverpool Voices Archive, Museum of Liverpool. This placard was used to promote Garlands nightclub in 1997, and reflects the political climate around this time in the lead up to the general election. It features one of the club’s drag performers, Lady Seanne. ‘Vote Gay Not Grey’ also referenced the Prime Minister at that time, John Major who was called the ‘grey man’ in the media. Many entertainers, performers and gay venues actively campaigned against the Conservative government who had introduced homophobic legislation. In 1997 the Labour Party won a landslide victory, and in 2003 finally repealed Section 28 in England and Wales.