PinkNews gives a special award for 50th partial decriminalisation anniversary coverage

Oct 09 2017
Written by Joseph McCormick

The fifth annual PinkNews Awards will take place on 18 October, and PinkNews is delighted to unveil the shortlisted nominees in all awards categories.

The awards will take place on 18 October from 6.30pm at a central London location.

It will celebrate the contributions of politicians, businesses, campaigners and community groups to improving LGBT+ life in the UK and beyond.

This year PinkNews will give a special award to broadcasters for their coverage of the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

This coverage ranges from documentaries and historical coverage to dramas in a range of mediums.

Check out the nominees below:

PinkNews Awards

Use the link below to vote for your favourites

50 Shades of Gay (Channel 4)

In this documentary, Rupert Everett delivers his personal and frank take on the developments in gay life in Britain since the decriminalisation of homosexuality 50 years ago. Rupert meets LGBT people of all ages and walks of life, from former royal butler Paul Burrell to the lesbian community of Hebden Bridge, and explores with them how the LGBT experience has changed on the journey towards the mainstream. Huge progress has been made – but has something of the edge and distinctiveness of gay identity also been lost?

Against the Law (BBC 1)

Woven through this powerful drama is testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their ‘condition’. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All these accounts amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

Britain’s Great Gay Buildings (Channel 4)

In Britain’s Great Gay Buildings, presented by Stephen Fry, seven famous gay faces champion the buildings that have helped define Britain’s gay history, revealing the groundbreaking events that happened in them and extraordinary people who lived and worked in them. The Reverend Richard Coles revisits Heaven Nightclub after many years to reveal its hedonistic past, Mary Portas visits Shibden Hall in Yorkshire to discover the secret diaries of a Yorkshire heiress, Craig Revel Horwood revels in the story of Britain’s drag scene at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Simon Callow tells the story of Oscar Wilde’s downfall at the Old Bailey, Rikki Beadle-Blair visits the Theatre Royal Haymarket to discover how the British public showed their support for Sir John Gielgud after his arrest for cottaging, Liz Carr travels to Bletchley Park to visit the place that fostered one of Britain’s greatest scientists, Alan Turing, and Lord Waheed Alli tells the story of the Houses of Parliament’s recent battle for gay rights.

Convicted for Love (Channel 4)

Homosexuality was only partially decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967. This documentary meets four of the many men who suffered criminal or medical discrimination in the last 50 years.

Gay Britannia (BBC Radio 4 Extra)

Radio 4 Extra joins in the BBC’s Gay Britannia season marking the 50th anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act 1967 – which partially decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over 21 in England and Wales. Join BBC journalist Ben Hunte as he curates our season and interviews some of his LGBT heroes.

Growing up Gay (BBC)

Recent figures show that more than 40% of LGBT people will experience a significant mental health problem, compared to around 25% of the whole population. LGBT people are more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide.

In this eye-opening and timely film, Years & Years singer Olly Alexander explores why the gay community is more vulnerable to mental health issues as he opens up about his own long-term battles with depression.

I’m Coming Out (BBC 3)

Teenagers Ross and Owen film themselves coming out to their parents. This series reveals that it still remains difficult to be gay and bi, 50 years after decriminalisation.

Is it Safe to be Gay in the UK? (BBC)

With homophobic hate crime a daily occurrence and on the rise, this film takes a look at the issue, hearing from the victims, their families and the police. What makes someone attack another person because of their sexuality? How do victims deal with these unprovoked assaults?

To explore this ongoing issue, the documentary visits Alex and Becky as they prepare for a looming court date, hoping to get justice for an unprovoked attack on them in the streets of Croydon. It reveals the pressure heaped on Dain and James’s relationship a year after they were viciously attacked in Brighton, leaving Dain with a broken eye socket and both of them with multiple injuries. Connor discusses the ongoing health implications stemming from the brutal attack on him when his flatmate took a hammer to his head as he lay sleeping. And Jenny talks about her brother Ian, who died of injuries sustained in a homophobic attack in the centre of London.

Man in an Orange Shirt (BBC2)

A love story in two films charts the very different challenges to happiness for Michael and Thomas in the aftermath of World War II, and to Adam and Steve in the present day.

Prejudice & Pride (BBC)

Presented by Stephen K Amos and Susan Calman, this unique series features LGBT people from across the UK as they share the objects that helped define their lives during these transformative 50 years.

Over 20 incredible years, 1967 – 1987, we meet the fearless revolutionaries of the Gay Liberation Front, a transgender pioneer who almost caused a strike and a woman who faced losing her children when she came out as a lesbian. By the early 1980s, LGBT people were starting to build a community, which would be tested to the limit when AIDS loomed.

Prejudice and Pride (National Trust)

Many of our places were home to, and shaped by, people who challenged conventional ideas of gender and sexuality. 50 years after the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, the National Trust is exploring our LGBTQ heritage with a programme called Prejudice and Pride. It is holding events, special exhibitions and much more.

Queer Britain (BBC 3)

Presented by YouTuber and journalist Riyadh Khalaf, Queer Britain gets under the skin of queer culture and shines a light on the challenges faced by the LGBT community.