Pride Power List: Sir Ian McKellen and Munroe Bergdorf among top 100 celebrated LGBT+ people

'Celebrating all that is good and great in the LGBT+ community'

On Saturday 6 July, the capital commemorates Pride in London – celebrating the lives, achievements, history and future of the LGBT+ community.

To coincide with the jubilant occasion, the Pride Power List 2019 has been released, revealing the members of the LGBT+ community in the UK who have made the greatest positive impact in the past year in the fight for the equality and inclusion of LGBT+ individuals.

Published exclusively in The Independent, this year's list received a staggering 50,000 nominations from the general public, a far cry from the small number of nominations received during its inaugural year in 2012.

"The list celebrates all that is good and great in the LGBT+ community and has a unique mix of celebrity, community, celebrity and business leaders," says Linda Riley, GLAAD board director, publisher of DIVA magazine and founder of the Pride Power List.

Individuals included in this year's list include Ruth Hunt, chief executive of LGBT+ charity Stonewall; Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of British Vogue; and Liz Carr, an actor, comedian and disability rights campaigner.

One of the individuals on the list whom Riley finds the most inspirational is actor and Stonewall co-founder Sir Ian McKellen, who came out via a radio broadcast in 1988.

"When he came out it was such a difficult time for him and he was actually risking his career," Riley says.

"By co-founding Stonewall, Sir Ian helped pave the way for the LGBT+ equality we have here now (aside from Northern Ireland where same-sex couples shockingly still cannot get married)."

In addition to the Pride Power List, which initially launched in 2012 as the "World Pride Power List", other lists also released include the Pride Allies Top 10 list, which pays tribute to notable allies of the LGBT+ community; and the Pride Power Couples Top 10 List, which honours distinguished LGBT+ couples.

Riley explains that Pride is both a "celebration" and a "protest", providing the world with a stark reminder of the suffering the LGBT+ community has faced over the years.

"We need certain mainstream media to take a lead and to stop running homophobic and transphobic articles, and we need schools to stop caving into homophobic pressure about the teaching of LGBTQ history," Riley states.

The founder of the European Diversity Awards adds that more allies are needed to help the voices of the LGBT+ community be "amplified to a wider reaching audience".

Click through the gallery above to read about a selection of the individuals listed in Pride Power List 2019's Top 100 individuals from the LGBT+ community.

Scroll down for the Pride Power List, Pride Allies List and Pride Power Couples List in full.

The Pride Power List Top 100 LGBT+ individuals for 2019:

1. Ruth Hunt – chief executive of Stonewall.
2. Sir Ian McKellen CH CBE – actor and LGBT+ rights advocate.
3. Phyll Opoku-Gyimah – co-founder of UK Black Pride.
4. Owen Jones – columnist, author, commentator and political activist.
5. Peter Tatchell – LGBT+ campaigner and activist.
6. Sandi Toksvig OBE – writer, actor, comedian, presenter and producer.
7. Michael Cashman CBE – Labour peer, actor, former MEP and LGBT+ campaigner.
8. Munroe Bergdorf – Activist and feminist.
9. Edward Enninful OBE – editor-in-chief of British Vogue.
10. Liz Carr – actor, comedian and disability rights campaigner.
11. Clare Balding OBE – broadcaster, journalist and author.
12. Graham Norton  – television and radio presenter, comedian and actor.
13. Gok Wan – fashion consultant, author and television presenter.
14. Saara Aalto – singer and musician.
15. Mhairi Black MP – Scottish politician.
16. Heather Peace – actor, musician and LGBT+ rights activist. 
17. Nicola Adams OBE – professional boxer.
18. Liv Little – founder of gal-dem magazine.
19. Stephen Fry – actor, presenter, writer, comedian and activist.
20. Anthony Watson – founder and CEO of TBOL.
21. Lord Waheed Alli – media entrepreneur and politician.
22. Dawn Airey – Getty Images board and NYT chair.
23. Alan Carr – comedian, television personality and author.
24. Cressida Dick – commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
25. Paris Lees – journalist, presenter, feminist and transgender rights activist.
26. Hannah Bardell MP – SNP MP of Livingston Constituency.
27. Lucy Spraggan – singer and songwriter.
28. Adele Roberts – radio presenter and DJ.
29. Sara Geater – chief operating officer of All3Media.
30. Alison Camps – partner and deputy chairman of Quadrangle.
31. Claire Harvey – diversity and inclusion consultant. 
32. Charlie Condou – actor and columnist.
33. Ruth Davidson – Scottish politician and leader of the Scottish Conservative Party.
34. Mark Feehily – musician and one of the lead singers of Westlife.
35. Dr Ranj Singh – TV presenter, author, columnist and doctor.
36. Jane Hill – BBC journalist and broadcaster.
37. Olly Alexander – songwriter, actor and lead singer of Years and Years.
38. Chardine Taylor-Stone – cultural producer, writer and activist.
39. Tim Jarman – assistant director for diversity and inclusiveness at EY.
40. Amy Lamé – writer, performer, presenter and London's night Czar.
41. Evan Davis – presenter, economist and author.
42. Annie Wallace – actor.
43. Kiki Archer – author.
44. Bobby Cole Norris – TV personality and presenter.
45. Horse McDonald – singer and songwriter.
46. Susan Calman – comedian, television presenter and writer.
47. Dr Elly Barnes MBE – CEO and founder of Educate and Celebrate.
48. Ollie Locke – television personality, presenter and writer.
49. Angela Eagle MP – Labour MP for Wallasey.
50. Brian Ashmead-Siers – partner at PwC.
51. Reeta Loi – writer, musician and activist.
52. Sophie Anna Ward – actor and author.
53. Vincent Francois – regional chief auditor executive at Societe Generale.
54. Jack Monroe – best-selling author and activist. 
55. Baroness Liz Barker – House of Lords, Liberal Democrats.
56. Benjamin Butterworth – journalist for i newspaper.
57. Dr Liam Hackett – founder and CEO of Ditch The Label.
58. Pema Radha – chief of staff to Global Head of Managed Services at EY.
59. Mark McLane – head of diversity and inclusion, M&G Prudential.
60. Bisi Alimi – gay rights activist, public speaker and blogger.
61. Julie Wilson – CEO of Optimus Cards.
62. Mary Portas – broadcaster and TV personality.
63. Val McDermid, FRSE, FRSL – author.
64. Michael Salter-Church MBE ​– co-chair of Pride in London.
65. Ryan Atkin – professional referee.
66. Kelly Simmons MBE – FA director, Women’s Professional Game.
67. Wes Streeting MP – Labour politician.
68. Ryan John Butcher – journalist.
69. Andy Woodfield – partner at PwC. 
70. Charlie Craggs  – trans activist and author. 
71. Dan Hughes – PR specialist.
72. Dolly-Rose Campbell – actor.
73. Suki Sandhu OBE – founder and CEO of Involve and Audeliss.
74. Charlie King – celebrity personal trainer and columnist.
75. David Ames – actor.
76. Emma Woollcott – partner at Mishcon de Reya.
77. Polly Shute  – partnership director of Parallel Lifestyle. ‏
78. Kezia Dugdale – director of John Smith Centre.
79. Cliff Joannou – editor-in-chief of Attitude magazine.
80. Jacqui Gavin – Diversity and Inclusion Centre of Excellence manager at Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.
81. Jodie Taylor – professional footballer.
82. Mark Anderson – executive vice president of Customer Experience at Virgin Atlantic.
83. Professor Sue Sanders – professor and chair of Schools Out. UK.
84. Daniel Lismore – artist, designer and writer.
85. Simon Jones – PR specialist.
86. Ian Massa-Harris-McFeely – events producer, voice coach and makeup artist.
87. Justine Greening – Conservative Party politician.
88. Darren Styles OBE – publisher of Attitude magazine.
89. Rikki Beadle-Blair – actor, director, screenwriter, singer, choreographer and songwriter.
90. Lord Collins – Labour peer and LGBT+ rights advocate. 
91. Jen Brister – comedian, writer and actor. 
92. Russell T Davies – screenwriter.
93. Amrou Al-Kadhi – writer, performer and filmmaker.
94. Pav Akhtar – co-founder and director of strategy of UK Black Pride. 
95. Tag Warner – CEO of Gay Times.
96. Dr Catherine Lee – deputy dean of Anglia Ruskin University.
97. Suzi Ruffell – comedian.
98. Scott McGlynn – presenter, blogger and author.
99. Mridul Wadhwa – transgender rights campaigner.
100. Dotty – rapper and radio presenter.

The Pride Allies Top 10 list:

1. Dawn Butler MP – Labour Party politician.
2. Denise Welch – actor and television presenter.
3. HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge – British royal family.
4. Jeremy Vine – presenter, broadcaster and journalist.
5. Lorraine Kelly OBE – presenter and journalist. 
6. Matty Healy – musician of The 1975.
7. Penny Mourdaunt MP – secretary of state for defence.
8. Sadiq Khan – mayor of London. 
9. Sinitta – singer 
10. Suranne Jones – actor.

The Pride Power Couples Top 10 list:

1. Briony Hanson, director of film at the British Council, and Tricia Tuttle, director of BFI Festivals.
2. Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter and director, and Tom Daley, diver.
3. Jake Graf, director, writer and actor, and Hannah Graf MBE, officer of the British Army.
4. Kate Brooks, Emmerdale producer, and Michelle Hardwick, Emmerdale actor.
5. Riyadh Khalaf, documentary filmmaker, and Josh Harrison, dancer.
6. Rose and Rosie, entertainment duo.
7. Rylan Clark-Neal, television personality, and Dan Clark-Neal, former Big Brother contestant.
8. Scott Nunn, co-founder and director of Gay Star News, and Tris Reid-Smith, director and editor-in-chief of Gay Star News.
9. Stella Duffy, writer and trainee yoga teacher, and Shelley Silas, writer and patron of Diversity Role Models.
10. Sue Perkins, comedian and former Great British Bake Off co-host, and Anna Richardson, TV presenter and producer.

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