The sixth annual Stonewall Awards were held last month at
London's V&A.
Twelve accolades were bestowed throughout the ceremony, which was
sponsored by Nationwide.
Vanessa Feltz and Attitude's Matthew Todd jointly won the
Journalist of the Year category, with Feltz saying: "If I get
another caller saying 'It's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' I will
shoot myself in the heart. I am fighting the good fight as hard as
I can, and will continue to fight!"
Scott Mill's BBC3 programme The World's Worst Place To Be Gay -
which examined homosexuality in Uganda - won Broadcast of the Year.
The judges said they were struck by the "courageous and inspiring
story".
Chris Bryant MP was named Politician of the Year. The judges said
they were impressed with "the resolve and tenacity" that Chris has
demonstrated as an equality advocate in the last decade.
The Publication of the Year award went to Guardian Weekend. Judges
noted that during the last year the magazine had "successfully
created a balanced dialogue and covered lesbian, gay and bisexual
issues in a commendably incidental and conversational manner".
Merope Mills, Editor of Guardian Weekend, said: "Thank you. It is
especially nice because it's so surprising. Featuring lesbian, gay
and bisexual people, that just seems to me a normal thing to do.
Here's to being normal!"
In other news, a lesbian pair caused hysteria in a U.S. courtroom
when they were sentenced to life in prison brutally killing a
child. Erica Mae Butts and Shanita Latrice Cunningham, who pleaded
guilty to the crime in August, hysterically screamed and
hyper-ventilated after being handed their custodial term in
Novemner. They fell to the floor, had to be restrained and then
wheeled out of the Charleston courtroom. Reports also suggested
that the mother of one of the convicted women was thrown out of the
courtroom for continual screaming.
Openly-gay MSP Ruth Davidson was named the new leader of the
Scottish Conservative party. More than 8,000 Scottish party members
spent weeks voting for one of four candidates by post. MSPs Jackson
Carlaw, Murdo Fraser and Margaret Mitchell were the other
candidates who hoped to beat Davidson in the race to replace
Annabel Goldie. Elected in May this year, Davidson - who was a
guest at David Cameron's LGBT Downing Street reception, last summer
- became the Conservative Party's first openly-lesbian Member of
the Scottish Parliament.
