The Rainbow List 2014: A list that changes far more lives than mine, by Paris Lees

It is a force for good in a world that’s getting crueller by the day

How was your week? On Monday lunchtime, as I recovered from the weekend, I didn’t know that over the next five days I would appear on BBC One’s This Week, get an offer from a major publisher for my book, or film a cameo in Hollyoaks.

This is my life now and has been since I topped the Independent on Sunday Pink List in 2013 – the first time a transgender person, one of several on the list, had come in at No 1. It felt like our time had come. We’re in the midst of a global movement towards transgender acceptance. Throw gay marriage into the mix and it rather looks as if gender and sexual minorities are winning the battle for love and acceptance.

Being No 1 on the Pink List transformed my life and brought international attention to the work I do raising awareness with media professionals through All About Trans. It was an honour, and I’ve really tried to live up to the trust the judges invested in me.

In the last year I have appeared on Question Time, Lorraine, Newsnight, Radio 1 and at the Oxford Union. Many people find my blind ambition unappealing but I refuse to apologise for wanting to better myself and speak up for a community that has traditionally been denied a voice. I admit I go on about my humble beginnings in Nottinghamshire, but my family was on the tatty table at the back of that great dining hall we call Britain. As a queer kid, though, I didn’t even get a seat at that.

That is why the Pink List – or the Rainbow List as it’s now called – is so important. Show me who is nurturing young trans people and telling them that they matter? That they can do and be all the things in life they dream of? Things have come a long way, but try telling that to the bullied kid in Leeds growing up on a rough estate where “gay” means “inferior”. Tell the young lesbian who doesn’t know how she’ll find the words to tell her religious parents who she really is. Tell the bisexual guy who fell in love with another man but is afraid his friends will reject and humiliate him if they find out. Tell the trans woman who’s on the verge of suicide because she can’t find a doctor who will refer her for the medical care that would help her to flourish.

It’s been wonderful to see the likes of Elly Barnes – who topped the Pink List in 2012 – use her pink boost to invigorate her campaign to combat homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. Anyone who went to school in Britain and happens to be gay or trans can tell you why her work is so important.

The Rainbow List is a force for good in a world that’s getting crueller by the day. Celebrate those who inspire you. Encourage them. Thank them, whether they are on the list or not. But when we delight in the talent, passion and success of our beautiful rainbow community, we all win.

* You can nominate as many times as you like at www.independent.co.uk/rainbowlist, by emailing rainbowlist@independent.co.uk, or by post at Pink List, The Independent on Sunday, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF

Let us know what you think on Twitter using the hashtag #RainbowList2014, or write to sundayletters@independent.co.uk.