When Basil Newby opened Blackpool's first gay club, his solicitor had one question

Blackpool is famed for its extravagance, flamboyance and celebrations of individuality - but there was a time where the town and the world looked very different.

In 1979, an unknown performer took it upon himself to change this landscape, creating the scene and a corner of Blackpool known and loved by thousands today. Basil Newby MBE started his career as a bluecoat at Pontins in the early 1970s, before establishing his name in the business world.

As the 1970s came to a close, he took over The Flamingo, a nightclub in Blackpool. Then in his mid-20s, Basil reopened as the town's first gay nightclub. It was the start of an incredible journey.

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Today, you'll still see Basil's name up in lights as the founder and owner of Funny Girls, a cabaret bar with burlesque drag shows and an eclectic restaurant. In 2024, it celebrates its 30th year.

Now 72, Blackpool-born Basil told Lancslive: "When I bought the old Flamingo in 1979, I went to the solicitor to obtain the licence and he said, are you going to be openly gay about it? I said, yeah! I am who I am!

"He said well, you'll be the first openly gay person to hold a licence in the UK and you'll be classed as an unfit and improper person to hold a licence. He said, don't let the police or anybody know that you're gay.

"I did, but there was bigotry and hard work at the beginning, but it gave me that inspiration to carry on."

Basil says the resistance he experienced at the beginning of his career ignited a fire. One that inspired him to establish a place where anyone and everyone can feel comfortable. And Funny Girls, on Dickson Road, was born.

"Even at the beginning, all the negativity around the whole thing," Basil recalls. "People said 'oh in the middle of town, people will kick off and there will be fights'.

"Now we're here celebrating 30 years of Funny Girls and there's never been a fight in the place in 30 years. We've done two Royal Variety shows.

"It's become so high profile, I think it's the fifth tourist attraction in Blackpool - we've come a long way since 1979 when I was classed as an unfit and improper person to hold a licence!"

But even in the 1990s, Basil says he was still fighting a tide of negativity. He describes the decade as probably the 'worst' his ventures have had to endure.

"That's when they did Clause 28 because if I went to the council or to the magistrates to get a licence and I said it was something to do with a gay bar, they couldn't grant it to me because it was promoting homosexuality. Clause 28 stopped you from doing that.

"I opened a place called Basil on the Strand here in Blackpool and they turned me down. The people on the magistrates bench said, I've not turned you down because of the bar, I've turned you down because of your sexuality because we can't promote Clause 28.

"I took it then to the Crown Court in Preston and it was the Judge that was there, he was so sympathetic and said it should have never come to Crown Court and he granted me the licence."

Opened in 1994, Funny Girls has been described as the UK's premier "Drag Show Extravaganza" having captivated audiences for 30 years with costumes, choreography and comedy routines. Wanting to create a place where everyone feels comfortable, Basil says it's important to have these places now - a stark difference to when he was growing up.

He said: "I came out to my parents when I think I was around 17, I knew I was gay but I told them at 17. They accepted and were brilliant with me, but because we were from the town, my dad said when you go out, don't go out.

"So I used to go to Manchester and to Liverpool and those days, I would go to a club in Manchester and you would have to knock on the door and a latch would open up and you'd say, 'I'm a friend of Dorothy's' and then they'd let you in. The DJ would say they would play a special song and you weren't allowed to touch each other on the dance floor.

"When they thought the police were in, the DJ would play a song so you'd know there were undercover police in and then you wouldn't touch your partner. You'd be arrested for touching."

Wanting to know the secrets to Basil's youthful look, particularly at the age of 72, he said: "I've never smoked, never drank and never been with women."