Honouring the stories, moments and everyday champions of the LGBTQ+ community.
This year, we’re inviting you to nominate in all of our award categories ahead of the ceremony on Friday 20th March 2026. To understand the category critera, click the award title below.
Nominations for the Gaydio Awards 2026 close at 23:59 on Sunday 4th January 2026
Volunteer of the Year supported by Explore!
A pride or charity volunteer who have dedicated their own time to deliver positive change for the LGBTQ+ community
Influencer of the Year supported by KAYAK
Given to an LGBTQ+ individual who has used their platform to raise awareness of queer struggles and acting as a voice for good for those in our community who may not be heard.
Queer Arts & Culture Award supported by Skopes
Recognising individuals or companies who are putting queer arts & culture on the map LGBTQ+ screenwriters, theatre productions, artists, galleries, etc.
Music Artist of the Year
Awarded to an artist who has made significant contribution to raising awareness of LGBTQ+ issues through activism and/or performances
Venue of the Year
Awarded to an LGBTQ+ venue who strive to provide an inclusive space where the queer community feel safe.
Event of the Year
Awarded for providing a spectacular form of escapism or entertainment for LGBTQ+ people.
Enterprise Award
Recognising the workplace trailblazers, LGBTQ+ businesses and their owners who have gone above and beyond to create a culture of inclusivity and diversity.
Pride Network of the Year
Awarded to a professional business network of LGBTQ+ colleagues who have delivered schemes and initiatives to better the lives of queer employees.
Charity of the Year
Awarded to a charity that has demonstrated exceptional work to better the lives of the queer community
Sports Club of the Year
An award for demonstration of excellence for an LGBTQ+ club or sports team
Pride Organisation of the Year
Awarded to a pride organisation for delivering exceptional events or initiatives for the LGBTQ+ community in their area
Outstanding Entertainment Contribution
Awarded to an individual in the public eye who has used there platform to highlight LGBTQ+ causes
Lifetime Achievement Award
Awarded to an individual who has worked tirelessly throughout their life to push LGBTQ+ issues to the forefront and made a difference to queer lives
Queer Media Award
Awarded to a queer TV show, book or film that positively and demonstrably amplifies LGBTQ+ lifestyles through storytelling or utilising queer talent.
LGBTQ+ Podcast of the Year
Recognition of a UK podcast that amplifies queer voices, reflects LGBTQ+ lifestyles, hosted by LGBTQ+ talent.
The Process
We can’t wait to celebrate the efforts made to better LGBTQ+ lives on Friday 20th March, but to get to that point, there’s a lot of work to do. Here’s how the awards cycle works…
Although the Gaydio Awards are not a popularity contest, we actively encourage multiple nominations from different people to ensure our judges have the best shot at recognising the individuals and organisations who have made a real difference to LGBTQ+ lives.
The results of the work to support the nomination must have taken place between Monday 2nd December 2024 and Monday 1st December 2025 – we understand that certain categories may take months or even years of planning before they yield results.
Nominations must be made before 23:59 on Sunday 4th January. Submissions received after this time will not be counted.
Click here to download a ‘Nominate Us’ poster to share with your supporters.
Once the nominations have closed, Gaydio will sieve through the nominations, removing empty nominations or those with little to no evidence before creating a long-list for our judges to score. Considerations around a good geographical spread, diversity and inclusion will be made when producing the long-list.
Our panel of four esteemed judges, known for their extensive work in different sectors across the LGBTQ+ community – media, sport, lifestyle, etc. will meet for a summit in January to review each category before leaving to deliberate and score separately.
A shortlist will be created, due to be revealed on Friday 20th February with the eventual winner revealed on Friday 20th March at the award ceremony.
Shortlisted entrants will likely find out sooner than the reveal date in order to create assets and for press opportunities.
We actively work with our judges to ensure that considerations are made around diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
The Gaydio Awards 2026 takes place on Friday 20th March, where all winners will be revealed on stage before being published across our socials and through press.
Winners will be published on this website and trophies will be taken home on the evening.
Gaydio Awards 2026 Nominations Form
To nominate in one of the above categories, please fill out the form with as much detail as possible to support your nomination and we’ll be in touch if we need some further information.