Comedian Joe Lycett, singer Dame Shirley Bassey and former footballer Alex Scott are among those honoured at the 2023 Attitude Awards.
The event at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, is held to benefit the Attitude Magazine Foundation, which raises money for LGBT causes.
It was hosted on Wednesday by Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and comedian Alan Carr.
Holden said: “Since being crowned an ‘honorary gay’ in 2017, it’s always been a dream of mine to host the Attitude Awards, and I couldn’t think of a better person to co-host with than my dear friend Alan Carr.
“It’s so important right now to stand together as one and embrace this beautifully diverse world we live in and accept everyone for who they are.”
Lycett won the comedy award after a stunt for his Channel 4 show last year in which he threatened to destroy £10,000 of his own money unless David Beckham pulled out of his deal with Qatar over their treatment of homosexuality.
The 35-year-old comedian later revealed he had not destroyed the cash through a shredder, and had instead donated the sum to LGBT+ charities.
His special, Joe Lycett Vs Beckham, featured a response from the former footballer in which Beckham said he sees it as “positive” that debate about key issues had been “stimulated” by the World Cup being held in the country.
The sport award went to BBC pundit Scott, who wore a OneLove rainbow armband during a live broadcast of the Football World Cup.
Becky Hill was given the music award and fellow performer on the night, American singer Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, got the breakthrough award.
Lusk, who was on stage with Sir Elton John during this summer’s Glastonbury, was expected to sing Diamonds Are Forever in tribute to this year’s honorary gay recipient Dame Shirley.
UK Eurovision star Mae Muller was set to sing I Wrote A Song while drag act and opera singer Le Gateau Chocolat – honoured with the culture award – was expected to belt out Dame Shirley’s This Is My Life.
American TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney was also given the woman of the year award following the transgender influencer receiving backlash for opening a Bud Light in a video on Instagram in April as part of a promotional contest for the beer brand.
US sales of Bud Light, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, fell more than 10% during the second quarter after the row.
#MunroeBergdorf serving red carpet opulence ✨ #AttitudeAwards pic.twitter.com/SrAQBrC2R1
— Attitude Magazine (@AttitudeMag) October 11, 2023
Carr said: “It’s been a mixed year for our LGBTQIA+ family, some amazing progress has been made and yet some really distressing setbacks have knocked us for six, which just makes the Attitude Awards even more important and essential.”
Footballer Jake Daniels, fashion designer Daniel W Fletcher, RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Colby and actor Robert Madge – for his play My Son’s A Queer – were also honoured during the ceremony.
In May 2022, Blackpool forward Daniels came out as gay, making him one of the few male British players to do so.
Donna and Jenny Taylor – the family of one of serial killer Stephen Port’s victims – have also been given the inspiration gong.
The sisters of Jack Taylor called for a public inquiry into the Metropolitan Police in March and said they believe police would have reacted differently if their brother had been a woman.
Attitude’s publisher, Darren Styles said: “We built this platform to celebrate and uplift, and we surely will, but – as always – there’s no looking away from the realities of life around us.”
