The first annual 'Australia's 25 most influential gay people awards' - whimsically nicknamed the 'Gaylies' - were held in a glitzy ceremony at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney last night. Among those awarded were High Court Justice Michael Kirby, singer Darren Hayes, theatre director Neil Armfield and children's author Vicki Harding - who ignited a scandal in some quarters when she appeared on Play School in 2004 with her lesbian partner. After years of psychotherapy, counselling and prayer, the pentecostal preacher Anthony Venn-Brown finally stood up in front of his congregation and announced he was gay 22 years ago. That public declaration cost Mr Venn-Brown his wife, two daughters, friends and his place as one of Australia's leading evangelical ministers. When he received a phone call last week telling him he had been chosen as one of Australia's 25 most influential gay people, he cried with happiness. "I love being a gay man and I love who I am, and the award was a genuine, genuine honour," Mr Venn-Brown told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. Organised by Australian LGBT website samesame.com.au, thousands of votes were tallied from inside and outside the gay and lesbian community for the awards. "In the end it was a mix of really well-known names and others who people might not know about but are doing important work in the community," the website's co-founder, Tim Duggan said. "We were warned, from the reaction that [similar] awards have had overseas, that some people would not want to be publicly included on the list, but every one on the list was happy to be in it, which I take as a very good sign," he said. Duggan hopes the awards will grow into a popular annual milestone like other landmark gay and lesbian events such as the Mardi Gras, which also sprung from humble, controversial beginnings. "It will be fascinating to look back and see what the gay and lesbian community thought in 2007." Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 10th October 2007 - 10:14am