Antony Cotton, Adele Roberts and Macklemore nominated for 2013 Stonewall Awards

Stonewall today announces the final shortlists for the eighth annual Stonewall Awards ceremony to be held on 7 November 2013 at the V&A.

This year’s glittering ceremony, hosted by Susan Calman and supported by Gender Gap, celebrates those who have made a positive impact on the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Britain over the last 12 months.

Hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead the Entertainer of the Year nominees for their song Same Love with Radio 4 Saturday Live’s Rev. Richard Coles and Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton also nominated. Writer of the Year nominations include James Wharton for his moving memoir Out in the Army, Damian Barr for Maggie and Me and Neil McKenna for Fanny & Stella: The young men who shocked Victorian England.

The Independent’s Grace Dent, Attitude magazine columnist Paul Flynn and Tim Montgomerie of The Times are all shortlisted for the Journalist of the Year award. Winners from these categories will be chosen by a celebrity judging panel including Skunk Anansie star Skin, Richard Madeley, Matthew Parris, Jeanette Winterson and Will Young. Voting is currently taking place for three other categories (Stonewall Community Group of the Year, Hero of the Year and Bigot of the Year) by thousands of individual Stonewall supporters across Britain.

Sports presenter Clare Balding, openly-gay football star Robbie Rogers, explorer Sarah Outen and  Arsenal FC football team are all shortlisted for the Sports Award of the Year category. For the first time there will be an Advert of the Year category which celebrates advertising campaigns which have included gay people and their families. Nominees for the first Advert of the Year award include Amazon, Barclays, Mamas & Papas and Natwest.

Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said: ‘This year has been a momentous year for legal equality in Britain, with equal marriage provoking both vitriol from some and inspiring courage in others. The Stonewall Awards are a fantastic opportunity for us to recognise those who have positively improved the lives of gay people around the world.’

Host Susan Calman said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be hosting this year’s Stonewall Awards. It’s an incredible opportunity to recognise the individuals who have strived tirelessly to make Britain and the world a better place.’

The eighth annual Stonewall Awards ceremony, supported by Gender Gap as well as Google, the Inclusive Foundation, Square Peg Media and Paddy Power, takes place on Thursday 7 November at the V&A in London. Tickets are £198 inc VAT. To book your ticket visit www.stonewall.org.uk/awards or contact Maria Anna Petrou on 020 7593 2294.

Entertainer of the Year

Rev. Richard Coles (Saturday Live)
The Rev Richard Coles has been a vocal and articulate advocate for equality, commenting with humour and sensitivity on issues affecting the gay community. He provided the inspiration for much loved 2010 BBC Two sitcom Rev, set for a third series next year.

Antony Cotton (Coronation Street)
This year Antony celebrates his tenth year of walking the nation’s favourite cobbled streets. After joining the cast of Coronation Street in 2003 Cotton has helped to increase the media visibility of gay characters with his sensitive portrayal of Sean Tulley.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Before Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had even received a single radio play it had had 30 million hits on YouTube. Hip hop star Macklemore was inspired to write the song in support of equal marriage by his gay uncle and his partner.                                                                              

Adele Roberts (BBC Radio 1Xtra)
The openly gay Radio 1Xtra DJ produced a documentary about coming out earlier this year and became a Stonewall Role Model, visiting schools to help tackle homophobic bullying.

Lucy Spraggan  
The openly-gay singer and songwriter quickly became a role model for many gay young people with her stand out performances on last year’s X Factor. Her stint on the talent show saw young fans writing to her offering their thanks for helping them to come out.

Journalist of the Year

Grace Dent (The Independent)
Columnist, author, TV critic, and restaurant reviewer – Grace Dent has long been a must read. Her unflinching support for equal marriage shone through her writing throughout the year.

Catherine Deveney (The Observer)
An established journalist and TV presenter whose career has included stints at Scotland on Sunday and Tern TV, Deveney led ground-breaking investigations into Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s abuses of power.                                           

Paul Flynn (Attitude Magazine)
As a Senior Contributing Editor to Attitude magazine Paul Flynn’s writing is consistently infused with warmth, compassion and humour. Whether interviewing rising rap talent, or penning his monthly column, his style draws readers in with a combination of personal experience, dry wit and a healthy dose of cynicism.

Tim Montgomerie (The Times)
Tim Montgomerie has written movingly about the political, personal and spiritual journey he’s been on in his views on homosexuality. He has been one of the most passionate and coherent advocates of marriage equality in the last year.                

Max Pemberton (The Daily Telegraph)
You can trust him – he’s a Doctor. In the past year Pemberton’s practical Daily Telegraph column has covered topics including mental health, NHS reform and misogyny in women’s magazines. In July he thanked all those in Parliament who supported equal marriage.

Publication of the Year

Architects’ Journal
Architects’ Journal published their own research this year into the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in their industry. The results were a wake-up call for the industry with nearly half of gay architects reporting they’d experienced discrimination.

Fagburn.com
‘Caustic, biting rudeness dressed up as plain speaking’, a ‘gay Private Eye’ and ‘hilarious’ are just some of the descriptions of Fagburn. Never knowingly neutral in its editorial position, Fagburn relishes in highlighting hypocrisy while routinely skewering complacency in gay culture.

HuffingtonPost.co.uk
A relative newcomer to Britain, the Huffington Post wasted no time in establishing itself as a credible news voice, weaving gay-interest pieces alongside the rest of its reportage – including extensive coverage of the equal marriage debate, homophobia in football and the experiences of children with same-sex parents.

Metro
Now an integral part of most people’s morning routine, Metro has long had a gay sensibility running through it. They’ve given balanced and extensive coverage to important issues such as equal marriage and homophobia in football.              

The Mirror
Whether reporting on London Pride or covering the coming out of a bisexual MP, gay readers regularly find news of note on the pages of this popular daily, with routine sage words of advice to their lesbian, gay and bisexual readers on Colleen Nolan’s and Miriam Stoppard’s advice pages.

Sports Award of the Year

Arsenal FC
In 2013 Arsenal Football Club launched the ‘Arsenal for Everyone’ initiative and continued to celebrate LGBT History Month by hosting an ‘Education and Celebrate’ event with local schools at the Emirates Stadium. They formed a new LGBT supporters group called The Gay Gooners and joined thousands of others to march in the 2013 London Pride parade.

Clare Balding
While describing Balding as a ‘national treasure’ is a cliché, no one can doubt the impact Clare has had in the past year. Rightly applauded for her work during the Olympics, Clare Balding is now a leading role model for lesbian and bisexual women around the country as well as one of the most loved sports figures in 21st century Britain.

Cardiff Lions
Defying stereotypes, the Cardiff Lions is Wales’ only gay friendly rugby club. As this year’s Union Cup Plate Winners, the team defeated rugby teams from across Europe. It welcomes all men – irrespective of sexual orientation – and is already training for the August 2014 Bingham Cup.

Sarah Outen
This summer, solo explorer Sarah Outen sailed 4,315 miles in 150 days surviving sharks, storms and a close call with a cargo ship. The first ever solo traveller to complete the trip, she proposed to her girlfriend when aboard her boat.

Robbie Rogers 
In February Rogers hit the headlines by coming out and retiring from both Leeds United and professional football immediately. Robbie has since spoken candidly about his decision to leave football and facing his fears of a hostile reaction from fans and coaches. Thankfully he’s now back and playing for LA Galaxy.

Writer of the Year

Damian Barr (Maggie and Me)
Damian Barr’s Maggie and Me is a dry, humorous and shrewdly written memoir of growing up gay and Scottish in Lady Thatcher’s Britain. Barr has garnered praise from critics and writers alike this year, with the Independent on Sunday describing him as ‘a gifted storyteller, weaving skilfully back and forth through time, and his unfussy prose flows delightfully… Splendid’.

B.R. Collins (Love in Revolution)
Described by The Guardian as a ‘brave and ambitious writer’ B.R. Collins quickly rose to prominence in 2009 when her debut novel won the Branford Boase Award. Her tales for young adults have won widespread acclaim from critics and fans and her latest historic work, Love in Revolution, is no exception.

Neil McKenna (Fanny & Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England)           
In the words of the Sunday Times – who awarded Fanny & Stella a coveted ‘Must Read’ review – McKenna’s latest work is ‘[a] rollicking account of the trial of two middle-class Victorian cross-dressers.’ An enthralling tour-de-force, Fanny & Stella tells the previously untold story of two men who became a front-page fixture to a horrified and curious Victorian Britain.

Charlotte Mendelson (Almost English)
Long-listed for the 2013 Man Booker Prize Almost English is described by The Guardian as ‘beautifully written, warm, funny and knowing’. It follows a 16 year olds disjointed life, torn between an unhappy existence at a mixed boarding school and her life with her mother who lives under the overbearing presence of three elderly Hungarians.

James Wharton (Out in the Army)
Joining the British Army in 2003, James Wharton’s autobiography charts his career as an openly gay soldier. From serving in Iraq, to his friendship with Prince Harry, to his civil partnership, Wharton’s book has been described as ’wonderful, stirring and thrilling’ by Stephen Fry.

Advert of the Year

Amazon
Effortless and incidental coverage of a holidaying newly-wed same-sex couple.
YouTube link: http://tinyurl.com/aqbfqle

Barclays
Barclays featured a same-sex couple in their personalised debit card photo booth in this advert that was broadcast nationally.
YouTube link: http://tinyurl.com/polth3y

Glasgow City Council
Glasgow City Council’s ad prominently featured a same-sex couple in its call for adoptive parents. Featured in a metro station the advert was a great step forward for gay-parenting.

Mamas & Papas
Yummy Mummy favourite Mamas & Papas featured same-sex parents in their latest ad with the simple yet powerful message: This Is How We Roll.

Natwest
The Natwest advert features twin sisters talking about their loves and lives – one of the sisters just happens to be a lesbian. Prime time incidental coverage of a same-sex couple which was first broadcast during Sunday night’s X Factor.

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