The Bank of London Rainbow Honours 2023 shortlist has been revealed, with some major stars in with a chance of taking home an award later this year.
Graham Norton, Nicola Sturgeon, Joe Lycett and Daniel Radcliffe have all been nominated for gongs at the LGBT+ awards, with fashion icon Gok Wan and TV personality Anna Richardson set to host the star-studded affair held at the iconic Natural History Museum in London in May.
Athletes Dame Kelly Holmes and Tom Daley are also nominated alongside TV presenters Graham Norton, Rylan and Phillip Schofield for the Celebrity LGBTQIA Champion prize, while Beverly Knight, Andrew Garfield, Sadiq Khan, Mel C and Richard E Grant all up for Celebrity Ally Award.
Meanwhile, global music stars Sam Smith and Adam Lambert will battle it out for the Musician of the Year gong alongside the likes of Becky Hill, Callum Scott and Rina Sawayama.
Comedian Lycett's nomination follows the star already being recognised at other award shows set to take place this year, thanks to the comic's stance about David Beckham's controversial deal with Qatar during last year's World Cup.
Strictly's Molly Rainford and Tyler West fuel romance rumours while on tourThe former Sewing Bee host won praise as he captured the world’s attention last year when he threatened to shred £10,000 in cash unless football legend Beckham cancelled his lucrative deal with Qatar.
The comedian’s actions came as a protest against the fact homosexuality is illegal in the Middle Eastern Nation with questions also being raised over the deaths of workers helping to build stadiums to the event.
Beckham failed to respond to the threat and Lycett subsequently posted a video of himself shredding the money. It garnered unbelievable attention, only for Lycett to reveal that the money coming out of the shredder was fake and he had donated the cash to Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign and Sport Allies, before urging fans to give money if they could too.
Lycett's work to raise awareness and funds for LGBT+ charities has now seen the star nominated for Media Moment of the Year at The Bank of London Rainbow Honours, ahead of the star-studded taking place on Wednesday 17 May.
Speaking about the celebration of LGBT+ culture, Linda Riley, founder of the Rainbow Honours, said: “The Rainbow Honours will celebrate the LGBTQI personalities, celebrities, brands and allies who have stood in solidarity with the LGBTQI community during what continues to be an incredibly tough time.
“The shortlisted nominees have all demonstrated a commitment to advancing LGBT+ rights, and the awards will help draw attention to the achievements which have been made and shine a light on what else needs to be done.”
Anthony Watson, founder and group chief executive at headline sponsors The Bank of London, added: "We’re proud to be the headline sponsor of this year’s Rainbow Honours. Our purpose is to empower people to innovate and invest for a better future and this ceremony exists to shine a light on the people and corporations who are doing just that.
“At The Bank of London we pride ourselves on making sure the workplace is inclusive and equitable where everyone is empowered to be themselves and succeed, and we're proud to support the Rainbow Honours mission which aligns with ours perfectly.”
The public are invited to cast their votes at www.rainbowhonours.com/
Media Moment
Amanda Holden breaks silence on BGT feud as she admits Bruno has 'broken rules'Bella Ramsay - coming out as genderfluid
Big Boys - Jack coming out to his mum
Drag Race - Victoria Scone marriage proposal
Eastenders - Suki and Eve storyline
Emma D’Arcy - popularising Negroni Spagliatos
Heartstopper - Nick coming out as bisexual
I’m A Celebrity - Jill Scott MBE winning
Jake Daniels comes out as gay
Joe Lycett’s £10,000 Donation
Strictly Come Dancing - Jayde Adams and Karen Haur
Celebrity LGBTQIA Champion
Adele Roberts
Dame Kelly Holmes
Graham Norton
Heather Peace
Kit Connor
Michael Gunning
Phillip Schofield
Rylan
Tom Daley
Yasmin Finney
Musician
Adam Lambert
Becky Hill
Callum Scott Howells
Dylan Holloway
Emeli Sande
Grace Petrie
Kae Tempest
Lucy Spraggan
Rina Sawayama
Sam Smith
Celebrity Ally
Andrew Garfield
Beverley Knight
Charlotte Church
Daniel Radcliffe
Dawn French
Mel C
Nicola Sturgeon
Richard E Grant
Sadiq Khan
Suranne Jones
THE BANK OF LONDON – Small Brand / Organisation
Bookish Type
Gaingels
Glitterbeam
House of Pride
Lightning Travel Recruitment Ltd
Moonlight Experiences
Queer Coffee Company
Queer Emporium
Rainbow Lottery
TwoDadsUK®.
OPTUM – Inspirational Role Model
Adam Wilson - Virgin Media
Alex Carter - KPMG
Deon Pillay - Legal and General
Hayley Creighton - National Grid
Kevin Humphreys - Jacobs
Kevin Traynor - Centrica
Liam Wardley - Pinsent Masons
Marie-Helene Tyack - Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Matthew Riddell - Swiss RE
Pips Bunce - Credit Suisse
DHL - Large Brand / Organisation
BT
Channel 4
Citibank
Clifford Chance
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)
Macquarie Group
National Grid
Unilever
Virgin Atlantic
Wickes
Outstanding LGBTQIA Network
Allianz Pride - Allianz
LGBTQ+ and Allies ERG - AMS
bp Pride - bp
LGBT+ Network – BT Group
Arcus - Clifford Chance
Proud FT - Financial Times
Global Pride ERG - ISS
Prism - Jacobs
Pride UK - Kantar
Proud@Sainsburys - Sainsburys
PRIDE UK Network - Sodexo
Proudly - Virgin Media O2
New LGBTQIA Network
Pride@Capco Affinity Group - Capco
LGBTQ+ and Allies - CWT
Deloveroo - Deliveroo
Pride ERG - Lockton
The Village Green - Greene King
LGBTQ+ Affinity Network - Kingfisher PLC
PrOWd - Oliver Wyman
LGBTQ+ @Personio - Personio
PRIDE Network - SoftCat
Together with Pride - Swiss RE
GILEAD - Outstanding Network Lead
Ben Jackson - Wickes
Georgina Court - Clifford Chance
Huw Morris - Lee and Thompson
Jake Hallas - Rolls Royce
Jamie Brown &Stefan Avanessian - FT
Katie Holmes & Krzys Sieledczyk - Jacobs
Liam O’Shaughnessy - GSK
Melissa Michael Darmoo - sky
Mike Morgan - HAYS
Tyler Lee & Austin Key - Unilever
FT - Corporate LGBTQIA Champion
Amelia Mugridge - Serco
Dr. Mark McBride-Wright - EqualEngineers
Emily Hamilton - RS Group Plc
Jacqui Rhule-Dagher - Hogan Lovells International LLP
Kevin Traynor - Centrica
Matt Dowie - Silicon Valley Bank UK
Jamie Christon Chester Zoo
Raj Jani - Ralph Lauren
Richard Hartley-Parkinson - Metro
Sarah Copley - Avanti West Coast
Head of Diversity
Devi Virdi - Centrica
Jyoti Sehdev - Costain Group PLC
Lauren du Plooy Flowers - Chelsea FC
Matthew Herridge - Virgin Media O2
Megan Cross - Kantar
Pav Akhtar - NHS Blood and Transplant
Sarah Fennell - Macquarie Group
Shelley Vaisey - Oxbotica
Shereen Barros - Kin and Carta
Tim Jarman - Microsoft
Trishna Naik - Jaguar
Yasir Mirza - FT
Corporate Ally
Allison Whittington - Zurich Municipal
Bettina Dietsche - Allianz BE
Caroline Frankhum - Kantar
Darren Miles - Centrica
Dave Ellis - Jacobs
Zaheer Ahmad MBE - Haleon
Ian Donaldson - Ardonagh Retail
Jig Ramji - LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)
Tiina Lee - Deutsche Bank
Tim Riecken - National Grid
Campaign
‘A to Z of Awesome’ Campaign - Lego
‘Home Pride Home’ Campaign - IKEA
#AllOurPride – Pride in London
#JoyForAll - Boots
Be Yourself: Updated Gender Identity Policy - Virgin Atlantic
Free phone number - Switchboard
Proud Stadium Campaign – Stonewall UK
Say Yes to Rainbow Laces and No to Hate – Chelsea FC
Trans and Non-Binary Campaign – Spectrum@GSK
Travel Proud Programme – Booking.com
CENTRICA - Community Initiative
Gay Indian Network
LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week 2022
London Bisexual Network
Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust
Oasis Open House - LGBTQIA community church space
ReportOUT
School Inclusion Alliance
TRUK United Football Club
UK Black Pride
UK Queer Arabs
GSK - Charity
Black Trans Alliance
Diversity Role Models
Fighting with Pride
Kaleidoscope Trust
MindOUT
OutRight International
ReportOUT
Stonewall Housing
Stonewall UK
Switchboard
Campaigner/Influencer
Becoming Jude
Charlie McDonnell
DJ Krystal Lake
Jake and Hannah Graf
Jamie Windust
Joel Mordi
Megan Jayne Crabbe
Phyll Opoku Gyimah
Scott McGlynn
Valentino Vecchietti