Singer Lady Gaga is among the nominees
for a Hero of the Year award by the UK gay rights group Stonewall.
Stonewall's sixth annual Stonewall
Awards ceremony will take place on November 3 at the V&A in
London.
In announcing their nominees, the group
said the ceremony celebrates “those who have made a positive impact
on the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Britain in the
last 12 months.”
Nominated in the Entertainer of the
Year category are actor Christopher Plummer, who played gay in
Beginners, bisexual
pop star Jessie J, gay reality star Harry Debridge (The Only
Way is Essex), actress Jane Hazlegrove, who plays lesbian
Kathleen “Dixie” Dixon on the BBC medical drama Casualty,
and Matt Smith, who starred as gay novelist Christopher Isherwood in
the BBC film Christopher and his Kind.
Nominees for this year's Sportsperson
of the Year award include English cricketer Steven Davies, who
came out gay in February, and Swedish football player Anton
Hysen, who
came out gay in March, and openly straight (but not narrow)
former UK rugby star Ben Cohen. Cohen retired this year to promote
his anti-homophobia campaign, the Ben
Cohen StandUp Foundation.
“This year's Stonewall Award nominees
include out gay sports stars, regional, national and sector
publications, popular TV shows and popular LGB and straight
entertainers,” said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall.
“The diversity of those nominated for an award demonstrates how gay
equality is embedding itself into 21st century British
life. We think that's a real cause for celebration.”
Check out the complete list of nominees
at Stonewall.org.uk.