Friday night (17 May) saw the British LGBT Awards take place in London’s Grosvenor Square.

For the fourth year running, the awards celebrated the UK’s most loved LGBT personalities, allies, innovators and companies.

Cynthia Nixon, Stephen Fry, Little Mix, Munroe Bergdorf and Ellie Goulding all picked up awards on the night. Here’s a look at the five most iconic moments from the celebrations:

Cynthia Nixon: “None of us are free until we’re equal”

Activist, politician and actor Cynthia Nixon – who also happened to play Miranda Hobbes in Sex and the City – picked up her award for LGBT + Celebrity. “Good evening brothers, sisters, and those who reject the gender binary. I’m Cynthia Nixon, this is my friend Ben and he’s here for moral support and the visual part of our presentation,” she opened her acceptance speech video with, while Ben wore a jacket emblazoned with the message ‘Homophobia is still a social disease’.

She continued: “I am just coming to you tonight to say thank you, thank you so much for this thrilling honour. It was such a surprise and it makes me feel so loved and so seen and remembered from all the way across the pond. There’s so much excitement about Pride this year because it’s the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.”

Referring to the vintage suit she was wearing, Nixon continued: “I am dressed this way because Ben and I are working on Ryan Murphy’s new show Ratchet in which I play a lesbian and there’s a host of LGBT characters that really undergo harrowing things in 1947 when our show takes place.

“It makes you realise how far we’ve come and we’ve come this far because so many of us, and so many of us who are no longer here, stood up and fought and that’s what I want to say to you tonight. 

“Celebrate and keep fighting. We’ve come a long way, we have a long way to go. And as a queer woman and as the wife of a queer woman and as the mother of a trans man I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. None of us are free until all of us are free. Cheers.”

Stephen Fry: “We do have to stay together and keep fighting”

Receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award from Emeli Sande, actor, writer and national treasure Stephen Fry was described as a “hero of the people fighting inequality and discrimination all over the world”. Speaking to Gay Star News afterwards, he said: ‘It feels wonderful, I feel very honoured. It’s peculiar to be awarded for something I would have been in prison for during the first 20 years of my life.”

Talking about his concerns for the LGBT community today, he continued: “It’s the rising tide of fascism. It may be a different form of fascism that destroyed the world in the 1930s and 40s, but it’s got the same stench, the same hatred. It’s a frightening thing and it means we do have to stay together and keep fighting.”

Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall: “Put a massive f*ck-off pride flag behind you in a country you might get arrested for it”

Representing Little Mix as she picked up their Change Makers accolade, Jade Thirlwall delivered an energetic speech. “I just want to say, it’s really not hard to be an ally. Anyone in this room who is an LGBT, just educate yourself, support the LGBT community, especially when you see things that aren’t right,” she started. “Put a massive f**k off pride flag behind you in a country you might get arrested for it.”

“Don’t be that person in the playground who watches somebody get kicked down and you just stand there going, ‘Oh, it’s not my business’. It is your business and change will happen quicker with allyship.”

Kelly Osbourne: “Whenever I’ve felt ugly and unworthy, it was the gay community that embraced those things”

Vocal LGBT advocate and singer Kelly Osbourne hosted the LGBT Awards. 

Speaking to GSN, she said: “As a straight woman, it’s a really big honour. To even be considered means that I’m accepted by a community I truly love. But it also makes me nervous!” She continued: “Whenever I’ve felt ugly and unworthy, it was the gay community that embraced those things - the things society was told me were ugly and not pretty.”

Osbourne also revealed some pretty exciting news about her family, revealing that they might be remaking a mini-series of The Osbournes nearly 20 years after its debut. “It wouldn’t come back the way that it was,” she told The Mirror. “We’ve been in talks over several years to do some sort of catch up to see where we are now and what’s changed in our lives and do a small, limited series.”

Nicola Adams: “There is no better feeling than knowing I have your support”

Olympic boxer Nicola Adams OBE won the Sports Personality Award. Taking to Instagram after the ceremony, she posted a photograph of herself from the night, along with the caption: “I’m so happy to have won @britishlgbtawards sports personality of the year last night, thank you to everyone that voted for me I really appreciate it. For me there is no better feeling than knowing I have your support #lgbt.”

Full list of the British LGBT Awards 2019 winners:

Lifetime Achievement

Winner: Stephen Fry

Trailblazer

Winner: Paul O’Grady

Sports Personality

Winner: Nicola Adams OBE

Music Artist

Winner: Hayley Kiyoko

LGBT+ Celebrity

Winner: Cynthia Nixon

LGBT+ Celebrity Ally

Winner: Ellie Goulding

Media Moment

Winner: Courtney Act

LGBT+ Online Influencer

Winner: Calle y Poché

Change Makers

Winner: Little Mix

LGBT+ Broadcaster or Journalist

Joint Winners: Liv Little and Anna Richardson

Campaigner

Winner: Munroe Bergdorf

Brand or Marketing Campaign

Winner: Spotify: Pride Stories

LGBT+ Charity or Community Initiative

Winner: LGBT Youth Scotland

LGBT+ Future Leader

Winner: Jemma Kameen, Sainsbury’s

LGBT+ Network Group

Winner: 4Pride

Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life

Winner: Peter Tatchell

Inspirational Leader

Geffrye Parsons, Macquarie Group

Corporate Ally

Winner: Jim Herbert, Aon

Diversity Hero

Winner: David Pearson, KPMG

Images: Getty