THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: It's back - as controversial and, we believe, as necessary as ever. Here is this year's roster of the 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britian today
Before we started work on the 10th annual Independent on Sunday Pink List, we asked ourselves again whether we should be doing it at all. After all, in 2009, equal rights are enshrined in law and there are ‘out’ gay men and women at the top of every profession - or rather, they might argue, just men and women at the top of their professions. So, is the list anachronistic? Is it patronising to gay people? We feared it might be - and went in search of a leading gay or lesbian figure to say so. None of those we contacted wanted to. Their verdict? The Pink List remains indispensable, a celebration of a community that is integral to the British way of life.
On the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots - and in the week when the National Portrait Gallery launches a major new exhibition of Gay Icons, this list is a celebration of those people who have struggled to get us from there to here. As such, you won’t see anyone “outed” in these pages. If you don't see someone you think should be on the list, it may be that they have asked not to appear. It is also possible that - believe it or not - we have erred and they have been overlooked. >>> | Sunday, June 28, 2009
