'I'm sad Strictly didn’t bite the bullet and do it five years ago': Same-sex ballroom dancer Jacky Logan on abuse, awards and ambitions

When I came out in the early 90s, I hadn't found anything within the LGBTQ community that met the needs of those who enjoy dancing and performing. My friend suggested we went to a class at the LLGC, the London Lesbian Gay Centre, in Farringdon Street ran by Ralf Schiller and Tony Woszeck. Ralf had been teaching gay ballroom dance  classes since 1989, but first of all when he started, only men went. We were in the first tranche of women who attended. The whole thing about communicating with people, coordinating your movements, the lovely range of music from the 30s to current day, it really appealed to me.

When I heard the ballroom music and I saw the possibilities for dancing, I decided to specialise in being a DJ for ballroom and latin music. Ralf Schiller asked me if we could set up a club together in 1996. We called it the Pink Jukebox. I was the DJ, he was the teacher. It's been going ever since.

I danced with Mary, my future wife, for the first time in competition at the Bell Pub in Kings Cross. There weren't enough couples on the floor so the organiser came over and asked if I'd join in. I was sitting next to Mary at the time. We looked at each other and said ‘oh come on, let’s dance.’ We weren't sure what we were meant to be doing when it came to the tango. Mary said, 'come on, let's ham it up'. She placed an arm around me, looked into my eyes and that was it.

When two men were asked to leave a mainstream ballroom event at the Battersea Arts Centre, it inspired me to create a safe space for LGBTQ people to dance together. It was, and still is in some places, a shock for people who are in that traditional ballroom role to see two men dancing together. At one dance in 1994, two men were virtually told to go home. They were embarrassed.  I didn't want to run a gay night, I wanted to run a night where everyone is welcome that is tolerant to gay people. So I started running Jackie’s Jukebox at the Rivoli in London in 1995. It runs the first Saturday of each month and is still going now. This month we had 300 people turn up. It’s been a very successful way of integraing same-sex dancing with the mainstream and no-one bats an eyelid now.

When I competed in Hungary at the EuroGames about eight years ago there were concerns over our safety. We had a police escort from our hotel to the venue. It was scary. There had been threats made and people were objecting to the dancers. I don’t think that occurs to some people in the mainstream dancing scene that dancers might be putting themselves at risk just by enjoying the sport.

There was an all-male couple on Dancing On Ice, and it’s now not a talking point. It’s just treated like ‘here are two people dancing’ and that’s it. That would happen if Strictly Come Dancing did it.  I am disappointed they didn’t bite the bullet and do it five years ago. The show dance they had with the male pairing was beautiful but it was more contemporary. They were both barefooted. It didn’t have that element of very close hold where people have to be really close together. Ballroom dancing can express the complete communication between two people.

It’s not just about LGBTQ community, it’s about empowering people to be themselves. I have every respect for the tradition. It’s what created ballroom dancing in the first place and I don’t want to stop people doing that tradition, I just want to add in an element which makes it more flexible. There have been a handful of same-sex dancers competing in the mainstream on the international scene and they’ve done pretty well but they don’t get the same opportunities.

My skill is more community maker. My contribution is about building communities. I was completely hysterical when I heard about my new year's honour. It’s not just about me. Ralf Schiller, he started the very first gay classes, I went to his classes and became his partner in business. The support and well wishes have bowled me over. I’ve had letters who have said this ballroom dancing scene has changed my life. It's people who have said they’ve found friends, confidence, they’ve found a role in life they didn’t have before.

Jacky Logan was speaking to Vicki Hodges