Stonewall Awards to honour gay equality champions
The third Stonewall Awards ceremony, sponsored by Barclays, is set to take place on Thursday 6th November at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The awards ceremony will celebrate people who have had a positive impact on the lives of British LGBT people.
Last year’s winners included Dan Gillespie Sells, Val McDermid and Alan Johnson.
The “Hero of the Year”, “Bigot of the Year” and “Stonewall and Barclays Community Group” awards will be voted for by Stonewall supporters across Britain.
The Community Group of the Year will receive a £5,000 donation towards its work.
The Hero of the Year nominees include Gene Robinson, the only openly gay Anglican bishop, and Natalie Gamble, a veteran campaigner for equal access to fertility treatment.
The nominations for Bigot of the Year include DUP MP Iris Robinson, who has come under fire for claiming that gays can be “cured”, and Heinz, who bowed to public pressure to remove an ad for mayonnaise that featured two men kissing.
The seven remaining awards, such as Writer and Entertainer of the Year, will be chosen by a panel of judges such as Diane Abbott MP, artist Maggi Hambling and broadcaster Dawn Airey.
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said:
“We’re delighted to celebrate all those people, both gay and gay-friendly, who’ve made an inspirational contribution to equality in Britain today.
“Our communities have a growing range of allies and they all too often go unrecognised.”
Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Head of Diversity at Barclays, said:
“Barclays are delighted to support the Stonewall Awards for the third successive year.
“Celebrating diversity lies at the heart of our work.
“Our ongoing relationship with Stonewall is key to our commitment to our lesbian, gay and bisexual employees and customers.”
Last year Antony Grey was named Hero of the Year for his pioneering work towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967.
The Bishop of Hereford was voted Bigot of the Year for unlawfully refusing to employ gay youth worker John Reaney. Earlier this year, the Bishop was ordered to pay £47,000 to John and to undergo equal opportunities training.
PinkNews.co.uk was Stonewall’s Publication of the Year in 2006.
In 2007, PinkNews.co.uk’s editor Tony Grew was nominated for the Journalist of the Year Award.
