Leading article: Reasons to be proud

"Goodness, I didn't know so-and-so was gay." One of the dilemmas of modern etiquette is whether such expressions of surprise suggest a mild homophobia, or show that sexual orientation is simply another fact of mild interest about someone's life with no bearing on their ability to do a job. We suspect that, whether or not readers feel able to make such exclamations in public, several of the names on the Pink List which we publish today will prompt such a reaction.

That is a good thing: in many walks of life, coming out is no longer such a big deal that we can be expected to remember them all. This Government has taken great steps towards equality under the law for gays and lesbians. Civil partnerships are now making a simple, practical difference. Ben Bradshaw, the environment minister, spoke eloquently yesterday of his partnership ceremony. "For most of my life I never dared hope that this would be possible."

Just as significant as the changes in the law, however, are the changes in public attitudes that reinforce and are reinforced by the law. That a government minister can be so open about "the happiest day of my life" speaks volumes of the different and better world in which we now find ourselves. EuroPride, yesterday's huge celebration of the sense of self-worth of lesbian and gay people, has long since ceased to seem shrill or political. It has become part of the cultural furniture.

There remains a long way to go. As Ben Summerskill points out overleaf, there is not one sportsperson on our Pink List, for example. The controversy (some years after the event, to those familiar with playground slang) over the colloquial use of "gay" to mean "rubbish" exposes a low level of prejudice that runs beneath much of the nation's apparent tolerance. It is a prejudice that occasionally erupts into horrible and frightening violence.

But today we celebrate the progress made so far and, with our endorsement of Sir Ian McKellen as a gay national treasure, we look forward to the day when publishing such a thing as a Pink List would seem pointless because nobody would care.