The Stonewall Awards took place last night at the V&A and by all accounts the ever lovely Sue Perkins did an incredible job hosting the event which was attended by a impressive 450 people ranging from celebrities to politicians, sportspeople and writers.

Now in it’s fifth year, the awards have become a major event in the LGBT calender and saw some very deserving winners this year for both the right and wrong reasons:

2010 Award winners:

Hero of the Year (supported by g3) : Gareth Thomas -  Chosen by thousands of Stonewall supporters, rugby player Gareth Thomas, who came out last December, was a deserving winner of the Hero award. The first openly-gay professional rugby star still playing the game, Thomas has been a vocal supporter of gay rights and an end to homophobic abuse, something he suffered from during his first away game for Rugby League, resulting in an RFL fine for Castleford FC.

Broadcast of the Year : Coronation Street -  Making huge strides in featuring more LGBT characters on mainstream television Coronation Street saw not one, but two lesbian characters introduced this year in the form of Sian and Sophie’s relationship. Add to this the established role of Antony Cotton as Sean Tully, and the drama series is definitely an act many others could follow with the judges commenting that Corrie has proven to be ‘streets ahead with its lesbian and gay characters, depicted with the same wit, warmth and drama as all of Weatherfield’s cherished faces.’

Entertainer of the Year : John Partridge – Eastenders may not have won the Broadcast award, but actor John Partridge, who plays Christian in the soap took the main entertainment award for his enthralling performance on Eastenders as well as on the judging panel for Over the Rainbow.

Journalist of the Year (supported by Herbert Smith) :  Patrick Strudwick - Winning the award for an incredible piece of investigative journalism on the practice of ‘conversion therapy’, Strudwick’s report in  The Independent lead to the British Medical Association passing a motion condemning the practice.

Politician of the Year (supported by www.hervia.com) : Rt Hon John Bercow MP – Thanks to changes pursued by the new Commons Speaker, 2010 saw the first civil partnership take place in the Palace of Westminster of Chris Bryant MP and his partner.

Publication of the Year (supported by Prudential) : The Times – Winning the award because of the fact that ‘Gay issues have been an integral element of The Times’ editorial agenda in the last year’, the judges felt the thought-provoking stories on equality to the knowing wit of Caitlin Moran and compelling analysis by Jeanette Winterson made this a worthy winner.

Stonewall Sports Award : Martina Navratilova – A passionate supporter and proud gay woman, Martina managed to not only win the Stonewall Sports Award this year, but also the women’s legends doubles title at both Wimbledon and the French Open despite undergoing debilitating radiography treatment for breast cancer.

Writer of the Year : Stella Duffy and Rupert Smith – The judges found it impossible to decide on one winner for this category so split the decision with Stella winning for ‘Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore’ and Rupert for ‘Man’s World.’

Stonewall Community Group of the Year (supported by Prudential) : MindOut – Based in Brighton. Chosen by thousands of Stonewall supporters. Winner of a £5,000 cheque presented at the ceremony.

Bigot of the Year : Chris Grayling MP – Chosen by thousands of Stonewall supporters to be the Bigot of the Year following his comments that B&B owners should be legally entitled to bar gay couples, we have to say we throughly agree.

Talking about the awards Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said:

‘This has been a landmark year. All three major soaps have featured compelling depictions of lesbian and gay characters. All three main parties made gay equality a central, vote-winning election issue. And rugby now has its first openly gay professional player. We’re proud to have seen all these successes of modern Britain reflected at the Stonewall Awards ceremony.’

Gareth Thomas, the Welsh rugby player who came out as gay at the end of last year has been announced as the patron of LGBT History Month.

Having represented Wales in over 100 international rugby matches, Thomas who now plays for the Cardiff Blues became the first British rugby player to come out as gay last year and has said he is fully committed to doing what he can to ensure the next generation does experience the homophobia that he did.

Talking about his new role Thomas said:

The 2011 and 2012 LGBT History Months will be focusing on Sport in 2011 and 2012, with  Thomas keen to play an active part in raising the visibility of LGBT people in sport.

The co-chair of LGBT History Month Tony Fenwick said he was delighted that Thomas had become the new patron saying:

“Gareth Thomas is a legend in the world of rugby. For someone of his stature to come out will be of enormous benefit to young players.

“I deeply admire his honesty and his genuine commitment to kick homophobia into touch. We’re already talking about an exciting project!

“We’re honoured to have him on board as a patron. He’s already showing himself to be a respected role model and we look forward to working with such a wonderful ambassador.”

The former Wales Rugby captain, Gareth Thomas, has come out in an interview with British newspaper,the Daily Mail.

Having been married to his teenage sweetheart between 2002 and 2006, Thomas said the marriage broke down after he finally admitted to himself and his wife that he was gay, saying keeping it a secret was “like a tight knot in my stomach, always threatening to seep out.”

Describing the feeling of keeping it in  “..was like a ticking bomb. I thought I could suppress it, keep it locked away in some dark corner of myself, but I couldn’t,” Thomas said he’d finally come to a point when he’d accepted who he was and felt he could no longer hide it. Thomas also admitted that during the time he was married he did cheat on his wife with men, but always practised safe sex.

On the subject of coming out, Thomas said the first person he told was a coach, Scott Johnson, who was not only supportive himself, but also told two of his team mates, Stephen Jones and Martyn Williams, who gave their full support to Thomas saying “We don’t care. Why didn’t you tell us before?”

Thomas also spoke positively about how his family and friends felt about his sexuality, saying “My parents, my family and my friends all love me and accept me for who I am, and even if the public are upset by this, I know the love of those people who mean the most to me will never change.

“I’m not going on a crusade, but I’m proud of who I am. I feel I have achieved everything I could ever possibly have hoped to achieve out of rugby, and I did it being gay.

“I want to send a positive message to other gay people that they can do it, too.’

Quick to dismiss the stereotype that being a gay man meant he was attracted to every man on the planet, he told the Daily Mail  “Just because you are gay, it doesn’t mean you fancy every man who walks the planet… “I don’t want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player first and foremost. I am a man.”

Questioned on why he has only decided to come out now Thomas attributed to the sport and the image comes with it, saying “In many ways, it is barbaric, and I could never have come out without first establishing myself and earning respect as a player.

“Rugby was my passion, my whole life, and I wasn’t prepared to risk losing everything I loved.”

However whilst he may have felt he was not able to speak out early, Thomas did speak of his hope that the attitude towards homosexuality in sport would change, saying “It’s pretty tough for me being the only international rugby player prepared to break the taboo. Statistically I can’t be the only one, but I’m not aware of any other gay player still in the game. I’d love for it, in ten years’ time, not to even be an issue in sport, and for people to say: “So what?”