One of the more surprising recent revelations in British wrestling was Kendo Nagasaki becoming a champion of the LGBTQ+ movement.
Once a silent and mysterious masked miscreant, he would come out about his sexuality in his tell-all 2018 autobiography Kendo Nagasaki and The Man Behind The Mask.
Early Years
Peter Thornley, the man who played the character of Kendo Nagasaki, knew he was gay from the age of 17.
However, he felt compelled to suppress his sexuality, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time. He also grew up in Crewe, a thoroughly working-class town that had minimal gay representation.
Born in 1941, he grew up in the shadow of Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing’s conviction for homosexuality which saw him chemically castrated, causing his untimely death. He told BBC Radio Stoke that he also personally knew two gay youths who went to prison for their sexuality.
He noted that “by the time I became a TV star back in 1972 I’d had flings with other men,” including with one who would go on to define his career…
“Gorgeous” George Gillette
A chance meeting in 1967 changed Peter Thornley forever.
He would meet George Gillette at a Wimpy Bar in Earl’s Court, which – unknown to Thornley – was a gay hotspot, described by The Chap magazine as “the epicentre of London’s clandestine gay scene.”
George Gillette would become Nagasaki’s trustee manager and added another intriguing layer to the character.
Gay on-screen as well as off, he heavily leaned into his camp nature to become a hated villain. As Nagasaki reminisced, George was “fearless to the point of recklessness. He was a proud gay man at a time when it was truly dangerous to be so, and he suffered a good many kickings as a result.”
As promotor Max Crabtree added in Simon Garfield’s The Wrestling, “our audience were mostly working-class, and they hated homosexuality.”
It is believed that George and Nagasaki shared the first televised kiss between two men on British TV.
In 1988, Gillette would sadly pass away from AIDS. Despite the prejudice towards AIDS and tabloid hysteria – such as that AIDS could be contracted from a bar of soap or holding hands – Nagasaki would stay with George until the very end.
Despite rumours of their relationship, Kendo Nagasaki confirmed in his book that the pair were never a couple romantically. They were simply firm friends, all the way until the end.
2018 and Beyond
In his 2018 autobiography, Thornley revealed he has been bisexual for 50 years. Showing his continued relevance and popularity years later, the story was reported in several top newspaper publications.
Although he had previously been married to a woman named Yvette from 1986 until her death seven years later, he was now in a relationship with personal assistant Lawrence Stephens.
Thornley remarked: “People would never have accepted it but thank goodness we live in different times and I just hope my story helps others be the best they can be – like I have always tried to be – and that my fans understand and stick by me because they mean the world to me.”
At the 2023 Effy’s Big Gay Brunch event in Liverpool, Nagasaki would debut his rainbow-adorned pride mask, which he would also wear for his marquee retirement bout the next year.
Outside of the ring, he has had several LGBTQ+ businesses based in Blackpool.
For many years, he ran the Kaos Bar, which billed itself as “Blackpool’s most exciting gay-friendly bar”. He also owned the Trades Hotel, a male-only retreat described by The Sun as “a sanctuary for gay men for several decades.” He is also said to have been a key orchestrator of Blackpool pride celebrations which have run since 2006.
Fans can even purchase Kendo Nagasaki teddies which bear (pun intended) the slogan: “Teddysaki support LGBTQ.”
He continues to appear at events and make speeches encouraging LGBTQ+ wrestlers, knowing firsthand both the anxiety gay wrestlers may feel and, more importantly, the way wrestling fans embrace them for their courage.
