Hayley Cropper is one of Coronation Street’s greatest characters and the
love story between her and Roy has to be the sweetest in Corrie history. As soon
as Julie Hesmondhalgh announced her decision to leave, it was obvious there was
only one way that Hayley and Roy could be parted.
Hayley’s exit storyline was scripted and acted beautifully. It was
heartbreaking but we will never forget magical moments such as the foxtrot the
Croppers took around an empty Empress Ballroom on their
last trip together to Blackpool.
Hayley’s very
last scenes were moving, and of course, controversial. While pondering the
implications of a right to die storyline, I reflected upon Hayley’s legacy as a
soap character who had, throughout her lifetime, brought important issues to
the attention of television viewers.
Despite Manchester having a thriving gay scene, no lesbian, gay, or bisexual
character had made it to Coronation Street until the early part of the 21st
Century. With Hayley Patterson arriving in Weatherfield in 1998, the first LGBT character in Coronation Street was trans.
In the mid to late nineties, popular culture and politics enjoyed a symbiotic
relationship in Britain against a backdrop of national optimism. Remember Noel
Gallagher sipping champagne at Number 10 and the Prime Minister publicly
campaigning to Free The Weatherfield One? It was a heady time but I didn’t spend the decade smoking
Spider Nugent’s “herbal cigarettes” – I promise you – it actually happened.
But if ever there was a fictional character to have genuinely influenced
national debate, that character was Hayley Cropper. Hayley was the nation’s first transgender soap character.
The portrayal wasn’t popular with the trans community at first but Corrie soon
appointed a consultant to advise on storylines and Hayley Cropper is now listed
by
LGBTHistory Month as one of the most important people in LGBT history - pretty
impressive for a fictional figure.
Hayley was even the subject of an
Early Day Motion in the
House of Commons, tabled in 1998 by Lynne Jones. The motion congratulated “
the scriptwriters, actors and producers of Coronation
Street for their sensitive and realistic portrayal of Hayley” and called on
the Government to “
guarantee transsexual
people full civil rights, including the right to correct birth certificates and
enter into marriage, so that Hayley and Roy will, like any other couple, be
entitled to make a state-recognised, lifelong commitment to one another if they
so wish.”
In 1998, when Roy and Hayley returned to Weatherfield from Amsterdam (the
transition from Harold to Hayley now complete), it was not possible for them to
marry under UK law. When they did have a ceremony a year later, it was not
officially recognised.
In fact, at the time, Hayley was prevented from changing her birth
certificate, her passport or even her tax credentials to be registered as Hayley
Cropper. These practical difficulties were all fed into storylines; Hayley was
stopped by immigration officials when returning from Amsterdam with a “man’s
passport” and Underworld boss Mike Baldwin eventually found out why Hayley’s payslips
were made out to Harold Patterson.
Word soon got round and Hayley and Roy had to contend with the bigots
(Les Battersby) and the bullies (Tracy Barlow). But for every Les Battersby,
there were many more Weatherfield residents who accepted Hayley for who she was
– a kind and decent neighbour, colleague and friend. It didn’t matter to those
who knew Hayley what gender she was when she was born.
Viewers felt the same and Hayley soon became a fans’ favourite. People supported
the right of Roy and Hayley to be legally pronounced man and wife. Some even
wrote to their MPs about it. If it weren’t for Hayley Cropper, many wouldn’t
have been aware of the issues faced by transgender people on a daily basis before
the Gender Recognition Act came into force in 2004.
As a result of this Act, transgender people like Hayley could, for the
first time, gain legal recognition in their acquired gender. Hayley could finally have her union to Roy recognised in
law when they married again in 2010.
It is not too far-fetched to argue that Hayley Cropper contributed to the
change in law. Soon after Roy and Hayley’s first wedding, the Government
established a Parliamentary Working Group to look at how trans people could be
granted legal rights. It was this process that led to the Gender Recognition
Act. Coronation Street brought trans issues into the mainstream and public support
for Hayley helped get legal rights for transgender people debated in Parliament
and onto the statute book.
On the day before her funeral was broadcast, Hayley was mentioned in
Parliament again. Hugh Bayley MP said: “This
week, when Hayley Cropper’s funeral takes place on “Coronation Street”, would
it not be a good time for the Government to announce that they are taking
further steps to reinforce and implement their transgender plan of action”.
The storyline in which Hayley Cropper left the Cobbles behind is another
issue for another time, but given that The Sun commissioned a poll on assisted suicide in the week before her death, Hayley
may continue to shape the national debate for some time to come.
Hayley Cropper will be missed but not forgotten and this is why she will
always be more than just a character in a soap.
By Martin Leay
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