New South Wales roads minister Duncan Gay has won the dubious honor of a Golden Gloria on Wednesday night (8 May).

The Glorias (Gay & Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous and Ignorant comment Awards) have ‘celebrated’ the worst examples of homophobia in Australia and beyond annually since 2010.

Gay was responsible for dismantling Sydney’s Rainbow Crossing (rainbow painted road crossing), reportedly due to safety concerns. He turned up to the ceremony wearing a rainbow tie.

Gay was chosen following a ‘boo-off’ at the ceremony. All the other winners won their categories via online voting.

Tess Corbett won a Gloria in the politics category for saying ‘pedophiles will be next in line to be recognized in the same way as gays and lesbians’ when she was running for election. Katter’s Australia Party promptly dropped her as a candidate.

In the international section, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) candidate John Sullivan was awarded for a series of Facebook posts which were first revealed to the public by Gay Star News. Sullivan likened gay activists to termites and stated that feminism is evil and being gay is even worse.

Conservative Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt won the media category for saying gay people already have marriage equality because they are free to marry people of the opposite sex.

In the religion category American Southern Baptist Convention president Rev Fred Luter won a Gloria for linking same-sex marriage and gay rights to North Korea’s recent threats against the US.

Ex-baseball-player Mark Knudson was awarded in the sport category for saying, ‘having a gay teammate would make some players uncomfortable… Nothing that infringes on the cohesiveness of the locker room can be tolerated’.

The silliest comment from within the LGBTI community was given to singer-songwriter Anthony Callea who said he’s not interested in activism because ‘I think if you make something an issue, then it becomes an issue [in] society’.

The Glorias were started by lesbian Labor MLC (member of the legislative Council) Penny Sharpe.

‘Every day GLBTI people and their families are subject to homophobic and transphobic comments from people in public life,’ said Sharpe.

‘These awards are a chance to turn the tables and put the focus back on to those people making discriminatory comments.’