From winners to celebrity performances, here’s everything that happened at the first-ever Gaydio Pride Awards with Hilton.
On Friday night (10th February 2023), the Gaydio Pride Awards were held for the first time ever, celebrating the extraordinary efforts that bring Pride to every corner of the UK, honouring the LGBTQ+ community members & allies making the biggest impacts.
Awards were handed out at the glamorous ceremony held at Manchester’s Hilton hotel with performances from top 10 selling artist Raye, a set from dance-legend Sigala, and a showstopping performance from Danny Beard, winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK (Season 4). The prestigious ceremony was hosted by Gaydio’s breakfast show presenters Paris & Dave.
Trans Pride, Brighton, took home the Grassroots Pride of The Year award as the longest running and first ever Trans Pride, and there was a joint award for Major Pride of the Year with Manchester Pride, Birmingham Pride, Brighton + Hove Pride and Pride in London, with all four Major Prides coming together to condemn the world cup in Qatar and the human rights abuse against LGBTQ+ people.
Joel Mordi, organiser of the first pride event in Nigeria, was the winner of the Volunteer of the Year award having volunteered with a myriad of nonprofits including UK Black Pride, Crisis UK and National Student Pride.
Employee Pride Network of the Year was awarded to Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust LGBTQ+ Staff Network after the network launched a hospital wide photographic portraiture project to raise the profile and intersectional nature of their own staff LGBTQ+ community.
Trans Radio UK Football Club were honoured with the LGBTQ+ Club or Sports team of the Year award for providing a space for trans people to get playing football in a safe way without having to be subjected to questioning, harassment and doubt.
Great British Bake Off finalist, Janusz Domagala, was awarded LGBTQ+ Champion award. As the first polish gay baker on Great British Bake Off, Janusz has used his platform to support and promote LGBTQ+ in his bakes and his attire, as well as being the first to use the word transgender on the show.
Filthy Gorgeous, the weekly student night held at The Brewers in Manchester picked up the award for Venue or Event of the Year as the favourite hit night where people in the LGBTQ+ community can come together safely and dance the night away.
Charity of the Year was awarded to George House Trust, to recognise all the work they’ve been doing around HIV and fighting the stigma. The charity has been providing HIV support, advice and advocacy services to improve health outcomes for those affected since 1985. Screenwriter, Russell T Davies, one of the charity’s ambassadors also attended the ceremony.
Gaydio is proud to have presented Music Artist of the Year to up-and-coming black, lesbian musician, Cat Burns who already had great success with back-to-back hits including ‘Go’ and ‘People Pleaser’, and this weekend will be performing at the 2023 Brit Awards.
Cat Burns upon winning the award said: “ I feel honoured to receive this award, being a queer woman and being a queer artist is massive to me. It’s super important to me to be visible and to be there showing the music industry that queer people have been here and we’ve been queer!”
The Lifetime Contribution award went to Peter Tatchell, a human rights campaigner who was arrested in Qatar for promoting the dangers for LGBTQ+ people throughout the World Cup.
Gaydio Director, Ian Wallace said: “Last night, the inaugural Gaydio Pride Awards 2023 took place, recognising the fantastic achievements of our community and LGBTQ+ people across the UK. We were thrilled to welcome Raye, Danny Beard and Sigala to the stage as well as the winners who have gone above and beyond for the LGBTQ+ community. It is important to offer an event, open to the public, that is able to showcase everything from the smallest of Pride festivals to trailblazing queer music artists. Bring on 2024!”
For more information on this year’s Gaydio Pride Awards head to gaydioprideawards.co.uk and keep an eye on social platforms @gaydio for more exciting announcements for next year’s event.
For more information on Gaydio Pride Awards, assets and media opportunities, please contact Scoop – pippa@scooppr.co.uk
About Gaydio
Gaydio is the LGBTQ+ radio station for the UK, home of Gaydio Breakfast with Paris and Dave, we aspire to be the place that the UK’s LGBTQ+ community feels at home, proudly reflecting the lives of our audience as they wake up, commute, work and socialise.
Broadcasting on 88.4FM in Manchester, 97.8FM in Brighton and on DAB across Greater London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Cardiff, Bristol, Sheffield, Brighton & Portsmouth. Listeners can also tune in via the Gaydio website and mobile app or through a smart speaker, just say “play Gaydio”.
The station was first aired in Manchester in 2006, evolving to a national brand with the acquisition of the London-focussed GaydarRadio in January 2013. Alongside its head office in Manchester, Gaydio continues to grow operations in the South following the 2018 launch of a sister FM service complimenting existing DAB coverage in Brighton.
About Hilton
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 18 world-class brands comprising 7,000 properties and 1.1 million rooms, in 122 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list and been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for five consecutive years. Hilton has introduced several industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the 139 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can’t buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit stories.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.