News - I was at the Stonewall Awards 2009 and I'm still a little fuzzy headed from the free flowing champagne. The Victoria and Albert Museum was at its glorious best, illuminated in pink and filled with beautiful besuited people. Stonewall director Ben Summerskill introduced this year's awards and stood by to read out the nominations (like the voice over guy, only visible). He was subjected to a barrage of flirtation by Gok Wan, who hosted the event with a brilliant levity which prevented the night from becoming too 'worthy'. Here's the rundown of who won what:
The first award, for publication of the year went to free lesbian magazine G3. They should also have won 'noisiest entourage' as they whooped their way through the category, prompting Gok to playfully shut them up.
Ben Bradshaw won 'Politician of the Year'. I spoke to him before the ceremony and he hadn't even realised he was nominated until he arrived at the museum. He professed that there were many other worthy nominees, praising Commons Speaker John Bercow for this tough stance in the face of Conservative criticism.
Sarah Waters was delighted to take 'Writer of the Year' despite not having any lesbians in her recent novel 'The Little Stranger'.
The most emotional point of the night was for 'Entertainer of the Year' which went to Boyzone. Stephen Gately's widower Andrew Cowles (pictured above with Gok Wan and Stonewall chief Ben Summerskill), in his first public appearance since the singer's death, accepted the award.
He said: 'For those of you who don't know me, I'm Stephen Gately's husband. When Boyzone did their video a year ago, it featured Stephen with another man. It wasn't a press stunt – they wanted to show Stephen as he was. The other guys just respected Stephen and my – our – relationship. The boys wanted to be here tonight – they'll be so proud. I also want to say thanks for your support in the last few weeks – especially to all who contacted the Press Complaints Commission over Jan Moir's article.'
Which leads nicely on to publicly voted 'Bigot of the Year' - the only negative award in an otherwise uplifting evening. Jan Moir was a late addition to the line-up, for obvious reasons. So she took the award jointly with Father John Owen who claimed on BBC One's The Big Questions that the majority of child abuse was carried out by gay men.
Diane Abbot told me she heartily approved of this result, then repeated it on BBC1's This Week by naming the awards her 'moment of the week'.
The flip side of the public vote was for hero of the year, and to balance out the ecclesiastical presence it was awarded to Reverend Scott Rennie. The Church of Scotland's first openly gay minister was inducted in July in the face of shrill opposition from some quarters yet backed by his own Aberdeen congregation.
This year's ceremony was sponsored by Barclays, who donated £5000 to Allsorts Youth Project and were named 'Community Group of the Year'.
The 'Sports Award' went to Michael Hill, who was placed sixth in this year's Motor Bike Championship. He said that motor sports were still very masculine and homophobic environments to work in, joking that he had asked for an 'umbrella boy' on the start line, instead of the usual pair of walking breasts - he wasn't allowed, boo!
'Journalist of the year' went jointly to Johann Hari and Joan Bakewell. The judges described Joan Bakewell as 'an institution, who has supported us for decades.' Johann Hari was described as 'a force to be reckoned with. He's quickly established himself as a leading commentator.' Both journo's had a bit of a love in, paying respect to each other, and acknowledging gay people who live in less fortunate areas of the world.
Finally I come to 'Broadcast of the Year'. It's sore point folks. I was nominated, as part of the FYiradio team (go team!) for our online station made for and by lgbt youths. But the award went to 'Corrective Rape in South Africa'. Samira Ahmed's special report from Johannesburg focused on a horrific phenomenon emerging in South Africa – the targeting of lesbians for 'corrective rape'. The judges singled out the report as a 'shocking piece of television, which cast a light on discrimination suffered by lesbians, all too often overlooked in the media.'
The after party continued into the night, and the atmosphere was bubbly (not just the champers) as everyone seemed genuinely uplifted by this display of goodwill and achievement. I got a congratulations from judges Sue Perkins and Andrew Pierce, I got a wink from Kristian Digby, a kiss from Gok Wan, and a passing glance (it was enough) from Patrick Stewart.
To round off, Ben Summerskill said: 'Champions of gay equality are crucial if we are to create a modern, accepting Britain. In the light of recent homophobic hate crimes in Liverpool and London, the Stonewall Awards provide a much-needed platform to showcase the strength, confidence, visibility and talent of lesbian and gay people in this country. We paused during the celebrations to remember recent targets of homophobic hate – both on the streets and in the media.'
