Hits Pride celebrates LGBT+ History Month with first trailblazers
February is LGBT+ History Month 🏳️🌈
LGBT+ History Month is an annual event which celebrates the history, lives, experience and culture of the LGBTQ+ community.
Initially set up by charity Schools OUT UK to promote equality and diversity in education, as well as making schools a safe space for all, the initiative is now in its 16th year and bigger than ever.
There are a number of patrons for the month including actor Sir Ian McKellen, activist Christine Burns MBE and former Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas.
On Hits Radio Pride, we’re celebrating LGBT+ history month by sharing the stories of some of the most prominent figures in the community and their achievements.
Below are the first five of our History Month Trailblazers.
Russell T Davies
He's the man that resurrected Doctor Who, created primetime shows like Years & Years, A Very English Scandal and E4's Banana - But it's Russell's LGBT+ legacy that lands him as one of our trailblazers.
Writing fully realised queer characters like Captain Jack and Lanto Jones in Torchwood, along with creating iconic 90s Channel 4 show Queer as Folk, contributing to a refreshingly authentic view of the community on screen. And he's still creating those epic moments of television today, as the creator of current hit series 'It's a Sin', staring Years and Years' Olly Alexander.
April Ashley MBE
Growing up and feeling different is tough today, but for April, growing up 1950's Liverpool it must have felt almost impossible. Born George, at 14 she joined the merchant navy, going to sea a confused young man. "I was meant to be growing up one thing but becoming another", she told an Australian reporter in 2005. She was one of the first Brits known to have had reassignment surgery, after being outed by a friend selling their story to a newspaper in 1961. At 85, April Ashley's life story is as iconic as any best selling biography.
She was awarded her MBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to transgender equality and still works to champion the community.
Gareth Thomas CBE
Every coming out feels epic, but Gareth's courage at bridging the gap between sexuality and sport and talking openly about his HIV status in 2019, is truly inspiring. At the time he told a newspaper "I don't want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player, first and foremost. I am a man".
We hear you, Gareth. But you're still our hero. As well as professional rugby's first openly gay man, Gareth is a patron of LGBTQ+ History Month.
Lisa Power MBE
The word 'Stonewall' is forever linked to the history LGBT+ community, but thanks to Lisa Power, it's the name of a powerful force for good right here in the UK. Lisa is the co-founder of Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe. Coming out as lesbian in the 70s, she was the first openly LGBT person to speak about gay rights at the United Nations in New York in 1991, and worked tirelessly to support those affected by the AIDS crisis in London. Her contribution to the movement earned her an MBE.
On International Women's Day 2020, she commented "Women are raised with an inner voice of self doubt; tell yours to shut up and let you have a go".
Stephanie Hirst
How can we not include our very own trans trailblazer? There are very few people in the world that truly love radio like Steph does. It's a love that transcended gender and she's someone audiences continue to adore. Her very public transition in 2014 is one of the bravest, as she was at the top of her radio game. As well as being part of Hits Radio Pride, her incredible transformation has seen her included in The Independent On Sunday's "Rainbow List", an annual celebration of 101 LGBT people in the UK and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Leeds Beckett University for her LGBT activism. This girl is on FIRE!