Beverley Knight talks exclusively to the Mirror about sacking her band in the 1990s due to homophobia, caring for her friend dying of AIDS and why she stands so fiercely with the trans community

Beverley Knight has revealed why she isn't just an ally for all in the LGBTQ+ community but a proud "fierce one".

The Shoulda Woulda Coulda hitmaker has first-hand experience of the prejudices gay people can face thanks to her friendships with gay men from school age and heartbreakingly caring for a friend later in life before he sadly died of AIDS.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, the award-winning singer-songwriter, 51, also recalled how she was forced to fire homophobic band members in the past when they refused to perform at Pride events in the 1990s.

Decades on, Beverly is still fighting the good fight and is now standing with the trans community, as bigots and "this government" throw "the same stuff they threw at the gay community when I was growing up in the 80s" at trans and non-binary people.

Appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival last weekend, the multi-talented star acknowledged Pride Month and proudly declared herself to be an ally. Speaking to the Mirror moments after stepping off the stage on Sunday [23rd June], Beverley was full of love and recalled her long-standing relationship with the LGBTQ community - including some of the bleaker moments that have come with being an ally.

Discussing the sea of rainbow flags in the crowd at Seaclose Park present during her electric performance, Beverley - who is an active campaigner for anti-Aids organisations such as the Stop AIDS Campaign and The Terrence Higgins Trust - was delighted to see a strong LGBTQ presence during her set.

"[Being a good ally] so important to me," she admitted post-performance. "I lived the life of a carer. I cared for my best friend until I lost him. He was gay, he was Black, he was HIV positive - It developed into full-blown AIDS - and I lost him, but I saw the prejudice at every turn, just really kind of who he was and the way he was born. Then, on top of that, contracting HIV. You know, the stigma... he died in 2003 when the antiretroviral drugs, they were good, but you had to get the right combo. And it was a life-shortening disease."

Discussing how treatment for HIV and AIDS has developed in the years since Beverley mused: "The game has completely changed. The stigma has not. And so my big fight is the stigma because people associate HIV with 'the gay community', gay men particularly, but actually, some of the biggest climbs in cases we've seen have been with straight people, including women. And it's like, you know, that tells you that anyone can get this, and you've got to keep yourself safe, but it's not a death sentence. So the stigma, it needs to end."

She continued: "When we grew up, they called it 'the gay disease'. People and preachers were openly [saying things like] 'this is God's judgement on the gay community. Blah, blah, blah, blah' - the absolute boll**ks that they were coming out with. And then the government, once it started to spread beyond gay men and people who used needles - once it started to go beyond that, they intervened."

These days, it's the T in the LGBTQ+ community that needs the support of allies more than ever, with governments and opposition parties across the world stripping the minority group due to pressure from famous bigots and transphobes. While many celebrities are happy to wave the rainbow flag for gay, bi and lesbian people, fewer have been forthcoming with getting involved in the so-called 'trans debate' - but not Beverley.

The iconic soul singer's allyship extends to the trans community, and she will not tolerate others who don't accept people for who they are. "I went to university with a wonderful trans woman called Jane... I've been doing this for a long time and have been around many different types of human beings, and you find out that humans are humans. The end," Beverley declared backstage at the Isle of Wight Festival last week.

She continued: "I don't give a damn... What I care about is your heart, you know, and to attack the most marginalised and most vulnerable group of all of us makes me sick. [The current transphobia] is the same stuff they threw at the gay community when I was growing up in the 80s. You see precisely the same thing they're saying about the trans community. And what makes me laugh is that the trans community has been here for as long as time has been here.

"I mean, social media is a crazy place at the best of times, but you look at some of those comments that people make, and it's not just attacking the trans community. They're attacking the entire LGBTQ community. I am not just an ally; I am a fierce ally. The first thing I said when I was on stage when I sang, Keep This Fire Burning, I said I am a fierce, proud LGBTQIA ally.

"I've been an ally for longer than I can remember because my friend being gay, and we went to school together, and this was in the 80s. I was always there for him, but when I first took my 'official allyship', I guess it was back when I started my career. There was an incident in which some band members didn't want me to play Pride.

"It was Clapham Common then, so you're going back a long time- the mid-90s. And I was like, why? And they were like, 'Yeah, well, you know, don't agree'. Don't agree with it? Agree with fucking what? What do you mean you don't agree with it? So I sacked them. I sacked the band. I didn't know what I was going to do, but you know, what the universe gave me an amazing band, and some of whom you saw today playing with me, because [I will not tolerate homophobia]. I will not have it. I won't have it."

If only all celebrity LGBTQ+ allies were as vocal and passionate as Beverley.