Current Affairs

Here are all the winners from the PinkNews Awards

Oct 26 2016
Written by Nick Duffy

A line-up of activists, politicians and stars were honoured at the PinkNews Awards this evening.

The PinkNews Awards celebrate the contributions of politicians, businesses and community groups towards what has been another historic year for LGBT equality in the UK and around the world.

Guests attended the event at Speaker’s House in Parliament and One Great George Street, where a number of high-profile figures received awards.

The awards were voted on by PinkNews readers as well as a panel comprised of former winners, MPs and influential LGBT activists.

The event was generously supported by Lloyds Banking Group and Hogan Lovells.

The winners were:

PinkNews Ally of the Year

Winner: David Cameron

Mr Cameron, who left office following the EU referendum earlier this year, was honoured at the PinkNews Awards this evening in recognition of his work to transform both the Conservative Party and the country on LGBT rights.

The ex-leader, who stood down as an MP following his departure from office, cited securing equal marriage as one of his proudest achievements in government.

Accepting his award he made a nod to the EU referendum that led to his downfall, noting: “When you’re Prime Minister there are lots of things that you want to change – some go right, some go wrong, some are instantly forgotten.

“But I know with this, with equal marriage, it is something that has already made a huge difference to people’s lives and will go on doing so in the future.”

Member of the Year (Sponsored by Hogan Lovells)

Nominees: Cat Smith MP, Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, John Nicolson MP

Joint winners: Kezia Dugdale MSP and Mike Freer MP

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale came out earlier this year, in a low-key announcement celebrated across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Since coming out, Ms Dugdale has continued to advocate for LGBT rights, acting as a role model for many young LGBT people in Scotland.

In August she announced her engagement to long-term partner Louise Riddell. Like her Conservative counterpart, Ruth Davidson, Ms Dugdale appeared with her partner Louise on the election day, posing for the traditional photographs outside her local polling station.

The Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, Mike Freer has been a long-time campaigner on a number of LGBT+ issues.

A married gay man, Mr Freer campaigned for gay male teenagers to be offered the HPV vaccination. He also called for poppers to be removed from a blanket Government ban on ‘legal highs’. and challenged NHS England on its decision not to fund HIV-preventing PrEP drugs.

Earlier this year, Mr Freer secured an important Westminster Hall debate on the prevalence of ‘gay cure’ therapies in the UK and called for action by the government to eradicate them.

Peer of the Year

Nominees: Lord Collins of Highbury, Lord Paddick, Baroness Anelay, Barroness Hussein-Ece

Winner: Lord Black of Brentwood

The executive director of the Telegraph Media Group, Guy Black has continued to use his seat in the House of Lords to raise significant issues relating to LGBT rights.

Over the past year, Guy has continued his long-standing campaign to outlaw reparative, so-called ‘gay cure’ therapy. This year, Guy has also turned his attention to HIV prevention and treatment, along with decriminalisation efforts around the world.

Community Group of the Year

Nominees: National AIDS Trust, The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Albert Kennedy Trust, Gallop, The Beaumont Society

Winner: Mermaids UK

Formed in 1995 as a support group, Mermaids now works to advocate for and support transgender children and their families.

The charity works to raise awareness about gender issues amongst professionals and the general public, campaigning for the recognition of gender dysphoria in young people and lobbying for improvements in professional services.

Advertising Campaign of the Year

Nominees: Adidas, Bud Light, Calvin Klein, H&M, Lloyds Bank, Nike, Trivago, Smyths Toys

Winner: #NoFilter (Pride in London)
Watch all the ads below:

Corporate Equality Award

Nominees: Google, Facebook, Inter Engineering, Freehold

Winner: Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group topped the public vote due to the enormous efforts that the company has undertaken to improve LGBT equality over the past year.

This year, Lloyds Banking Group became the first major UK owned employer to offer gender reassignment treatment and surgery as a benefit in its health care policy offered to all employees across Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows and its other UK owned businesses. The ground-breaking policy has already helped a number of its staff to access treatment significantly faster than they would have been able to via the NHS.

The organisation is now helping other large employers work through changes in their own health policies to make them more inclusive for transgender employees. Lloyds Bank has also undertaken a widespread LGBT-inclusive advertising campaign called ‘He Said Yes’, featuring a same-sex proposal as an example of a life event that the bank says it will support customers through.