The Chase star Paul Sinha and radio presenter Adele Roberts are among the famous faces who have been named Pride icons for exemplifying “the spirit of pride, resilience, and progress”.
Attitude magazine’s Pride Awards were hosted by Radio 2 presenter Rylan Clark and featured a performance by singer Will Young at Raffles London on Wednesday.
Former BBC Radio 1 presenter Roberts, who was a finalist on Dancing On Ice this year, has been candid about being diagnosed with cancer and her use of a stoma bag.
She was declared cancer-free in 2022, and has been in a relationship with Kate Holderness for around two decades.
Sinha, dubbed “The Sinnerman” for his quizzing, found fame as one of the formidable Chasers on ITV show The Chase.
The British Quiz Champion Of The Year was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019 and, in the same year, he got married to Oliver Levy, who he attended the awards show with.
Also named an icon was RuPaul’s Drag Race France and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs The World contestant La Grande Dame, known for her fashion forward styles, and German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.
Darren Styles, publisher of Attitude magazine, said: “The Peugeot Attitude Pride Awards 2024 have once again shone a spotlight on the incredible work being done within and for the LGBTQ+ community.
“This year, we’re thrilled to celebrate 10 remarkable individuals who embody the spirit of pride, resilience, and progress. Their stories and achievements inspire us all and remind us of the power of visibility and authentic self-expression.”
The show also named “heroes of the LGBTQ+ community”, including Mike Parish, founder of the LGBTQ+ Dementia Advisory Group, British-Nigerian activist Bisi Alimi, who set up his own foundation, and married Jewish and Muslim couple Adam Imber and Ali Najjar.
Winners also included Glasgow artist and author Juano Diaz, the family of Alice Litman, her mother and sister Caroline and Kate Litman, and fertility equality campaigners Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans.
The family of Ms Litman, who was found dead at the age of 20 on May 26 2022 at Undercliff Walk in Roedean, Brighton, said she was left to “languish” on the Gender Identity Services waiting list.
Giving a narrative conclusion, a coroner said: “At the time of her death, Alice had been on the waiting list for Gender Identity Services for 1,023 days, which contributed to a decline in her mental health.”
Mr Styles said his magazine’s charity, the Attitude Magazine Foundation, raised “£20,000 for LGBTQ+ causes large and small, thanks to the generosity of our headline sponsor”.
“This is what Attitude is – the biggest gay media brand in the world, Europe’s best-selling LGBTQ+ title by a country mile and a philanthropic organisation that is proud to work with every single commercial and corporate entity that wants to celebrate and contribute to LGBTQ+ life at any time of year,” he added.
Also attending was Ireland’s Eurovision star Bambie Thug in a patchwork pink outfit, RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Tia Kofi, Bimini Bon Boulash and Ella Vaday, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, singer Mabel, Munroe Bergdorf, the first transgender woman to feature on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK, and broadcaster India Willoughby.
