Heroes, villains, champers and the best of the C-list

What do Vanessa Feltz, Christopher Biggins, Russell Tovey, Dan Gillespie Sells, John Partridge (from EastEnders), Harry Derbridge (from The Only Way is Essex, apparently), Gok Wan and Louis Spence have in common? They were all larger-than-life attendees at the glittering Stonewall Awards last night at the V&A.

And what do Lady GaGa, Jessie J, Christopher Plummer, Ben Cohen and Matt Smith all have in common? They were among the list of nominees for an award, but (unsurprisingly) did not grace us with their presence. So it was a bit of a "C-list celebrity" affair, but a worthy one nonetheless.

I was very happy to receive my invitation as the recently-elected co-chair of Islington Council staff LGBT forum, and - my word! - the Stonewallers know how to throw a party. There was a positive tsunami of champagne (all served by some very cute waiters indeed), and the most microscopic canapés to accompany them (I didn't partake - at least one of them looked like two grains of rice carefully wrapped in a smoked salmon fish scale, and that would not even touch the sides).



The V&A entrance hall and the gorgeous Raphael Room in which the award presentations took place were illuminated in shocking pink, and the stage was sited under the enormous Renaissance altarpiece - all very dramatic.

Sidenote:

This room houses the surviving designs painted by Raphael, one of the greatest of all Italian Renaissance artists, for tapestries commissioned in Rome in 1515 by Pope Leo X . These were to hang in the Sistine chapel on the walls beneath the ceiling by his contemporary Michelangelo. Although originally only designs (known as "cartoons") to guide the weavers, they are now among the greatest artistic treasures in Britain. Owned by the British Royal Family since 1623, they have been on loan to the Museum since 1865.

Hosted by the remarkably uncharismatic "comedian" Stephen K. Amos and Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill (who actually had the more entertaining repartee), the nominees this year were an amazingly mixed bag - nominated by the organisation's supporters, who must themselves (as is the nature of any gay organisation) hail from a wide social, cultural and generational range. Our audience, too - smartly dressed as most of them were, the dress code being "cocktail" - was quite a mixture. Many of them appeared never to have seen champagne before...

And so to the awards themselves [from Pink News]:

Writer of the Year went to novelist Alan Hollinghurst, whose critically-acclaimed works have probed many aspects of gay life. He said he saw it as a “marvellous stroke of luck to be gay and have such a subject to explore”.

Chris Bryant MP won the award for Politician of the Year. His civil partner Jared Cranney picked up the award on his behalf, and described it as a “great honour”. The couple made history last year by being the first to enter into a civil partnership in the Palace of Westminster.

The Guardian Weekend won Publication of the Year, praised for portraying the “normality” of gay life.

Scott Mills’ BBC3 documentary The World’s Worst Place To Be Gay was named the Broadcast of the Year. The film examined the dangers of homosexuality in Uganda. He dedicated the award to Ugandan rights activist David Kato, who was murdered outside his home in Kampala earlier this year.

Jane Hazlegrove was awarded Entertainer of the Year for her five-year role as Kathleen “Dixie” Dixon on Casualty. She said the award “means the world to me”, affectionately thanked her “missus” and told the audience: “It’s great to be gay”.

The group UK Black Pride was voted Community Group of the Year and presented with a cheque for £5,000.

Vanessa Feltz, Ben Summerskill, Alan Hollinghurst

I particularly enjoyed the acceptance speech of the effervescent Vanessa Feltz (accepting a joint award for Journalist of the Year), who bemoaned the fact that although she remains committed to providing a platform in support of gay issues on her radio show and in her newspaper columns, had "never even had a lesbian fumble. Never even an offer!". Attitude magazine’s Matthew Todd, accepting his award jointly with Miss F, consoled her, saying he “had never had one either”.

Winner of the coveted "Bigot of the Year" (a close-run thing, up against such bastards as Section 28 backer Brian Souter and Stephen Green of "Christian" Voice) was the incredibly unlovely Melanie Phillips of Mein Kampf - sorry! - the Daily Mail. As the Stonewall nomination itself said: "Long infamous for her bigoted views on just about everything from the NHS to Barack Obama to gay rights, this year Phillips really outdid herself by comparing gay people to animals, writing that Britain is in the grip of a ‘Government-backed drive to promote the gay agenda’ and claiming that gay people ‘risk becoming the new McCarthyites’ simply because they want to stay at a bed and breakfast." Well-deserved! She didn't turn up to collect it...

The most important moment of the evening, however was the award for "Hero of the Year", which (quite rightly) did not go to a bandwagon-jumping celeb (GaGa or Jessie J) nor even to the lovely Joan Armatrading (who should never have been in the category in the first place, her only vaguely "heroic" action this year being her public coming-out by marrying her partner). It went to a man whose bravery and compassion shone through, Roger Crouch.

In 2010, 15-year-old Dominic Crouch took his own life. He had allegedly been the victim of homophobic bullying at his school following a game in which he accepted a dare to kiss another boy. Since Dominic’s death, his father has dedicated himself to raising awareness of homophobic bullying in schools.

Roger's acceptance speech moved several in the audience to tears. He spoke of the “gap in our lives” left by his son’s suicide, the strengthening of the bond between him and his wife Paola as they sought an understanding of what drove their son to his death, and their determination to raise awareness of the issues. Homophobia, he said, was "a word associated with illness. I prefer the term 'bigotry'. [It] demeans us all”. The dedicated the award to his son and to all the people whose lives had “been cut short by bullying”. We gave him a standing ovation.

Finally, a late arrival due to the vagaries of EasyJet flights was the gorgeous Swede Anton Hysen - the world’s only openly gay professional footballer - to accept his award for Sportsperson of the Year. His speech was fab, he looked great - all would have been hunky dory, had I not been informed later by Paul Burston and others that while waiting in the wings the cocky sod performed a theatrical yawn (as if indicating that the speaker should wind up) in full view of the mid-speech Roger Crouch. Disrespect of the first order, and I hope he gets reprimanded for such behaviour!

All in all, this was a good evening, and I enjoyed it immensely. It is not very often one gets to wander past the magnificent exhibits at the V&A with a glass of champers in one's hand, nor mingle with the great and the good of the gay world in such architectural surroundings as this cultural gem!

Stonewall Awards