Tom Daley and RUPaul top UK's favourite LGBT +moments

Diver Tom Daley and his film producer partner Dustin Lance Black have been voted the UK’s favourite same sex couple to become parents in a vote by LGBT+ charity Manchester Pride. The couple who have just had a baby by surrogate were followed closely by Neil Patrick-Harris and David Burtka with 28% of the vote. 

The research which was commissioned by Manchester Pride’s year round calendar of cultural events Superbia explores which of the most popular LGBT+ moments of the last century have affected popular culture. From the rise of same sex parenting, the most popular television moments, to watching the world embrace the community by saying YES! 

Mark Fletcher, CEO for Manchester Pride and Superbia, said; “The last 10 years has seen a huge step forward for equality, campaigning and raising awareness for LGBT+ people and issues, all of which have changed the way the rest of the world understands the challenges and issues we face every day. I believe that education is the key to equality and our cultural world is not only a great way to educate people but also a fantastic window into how attitudes have changed.

“There have been the high profile moments this year which have made a massive impact. We have incredible young role models in people like Tom Daley who is not only leading his field in his chosen career but also finding his own path in his personal life and inspiring a whole generation along the way.”

In the survey of 1000* people across the UK, participants were asked to choose their favourite LGBT+ moments of the last decade. From soap stories, baby news and magazine covers, the cultural website put it to the British public to decide. 

Respondents were clear in their view that RuPaul’s Drag Race was their favourite LGBT+ representation on the small screen, with almost half of the votes. Sophia Burset and her heartwarming storyline as a transgender woman in Orange Is The New Black secured a further 21% of the vote, followed by 19% of participants voting Kana as Coronation Street as their favourite representation with their gripping storyline of Kate and Rana’s same-sex relationship, showing the impact of their secret love affair that was forbidden by Rana’s Muslim family. 

LGBT+ moments in the news were seen as vitally important to the community, with both Prince William’s Attitude magazine cover and Gareth Thomas coming out as the first openly homosexual rugby player in the UK coming out top, with almost a third of the vote each. 

The Duke of Cambridge made history in 2016 by becoming the first member of the Royal Family to grace the cover of an openly gay publication. Prince William invited the team at Attitude to Kensington Palace to discuss the mental health implications that can come as a result of homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying. A groundbreaking moment for LGBT+ culture and its awareness amongst some of the World’s most powerful figures.

Other popular moments included Conchita Wurst winning Eurovision on behalf of her country, giving Austria their first Eurovision win since 1966, and Caitlyn Jenner coming out as a trans woman in 2015. 

2014 was a defining year for LGBT+ rights in the UK. Not only was the law against same sex marriage passed this decade, but parts of the law also changed in order to allow civil partnerships to be converted into marriages, and allow married people to change their legal gender while remaining married. The UK Government has, on the whole, collectively campaigned in favour of gay rights, as 2010 also saw gender reassignment added as a protected characteristic in equality legislation in the UK.

Three quarters of those surveyed saw the UK saying yes to same sex marriage as their favourite moment, followed by 13% voting the US movement for gay marriage as their favourite, and 8% voting for the Irish Gay Marriage Referendum.

Mark continued; “This decade has been defining in terms of making same-sex legal across the world - a huge moment for LGBT+ couples everywhere. It is still in this generation that homosexuality was still illegal for many people in the UK, so not only to be accepted by society, but to take a step forward towards equal rights is life-changing for so many people.”

Manchester Pride sees the importance of LGBT+ culture for the community and supports this through Superbia. Superbia by Manchester Pride is a year round calendar of cultural events which has been created to ensure that LGBT+ people are supported, as it curates, funds and promotes events for the community  throughout Greater Manchester .

Since 2015, Superbia has contributed over £50,000 in Grants for LGBT+ culture in Greater Manchester as part of Manchester Pride’s year round calendar of cultural events.  From festivals to community workshops, art exhibitions to book publishing, film premieres to sports clubs, around 300 artists, practitioners and organisations have benefitted from the Superbia Grants programme and event support. 

From high-profile cultural events to behind-the-scenes community engagement, Superbia by Manchester Pride sees culture as a crucial asset for the LGBT+ people, and that the contribution of the community to the wider culture of Greater Manchester is invaluable. 

Published: 22-Jan-2019: (5219)