England international Beth Mead and USA World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe are just a couple of sporting stars who are among the nominees for the Sports Personality award.

Beth Mead has been an avid supporter of the 'Stonewall Rainbow Laces' campaign which aims to eradicate homophobia in sport.

Megan Rapinoe came out in 2012, she is an advocate for LGBT rights, and is a devoted campaigner for women's rights in sport.

Charlie Martin is a transgender racing driver, in 2012 she transitioned to a female whilst documenting her gender reassignment on her YouTube channel. Through this, she gained hundreds of thousands of views and inspired many more. Since transitioning she has found "new confidence" within her racing and has had some of the best results in her career.

The other nominees for the Sports Personality award are as follows:

Belle Brockhoff (Snowboarding), Chris Mosier (Athletics), Gareth Thomas (Rugby), Gus Kenworthy (Sking), Kiera Hogan (Wrestling), Michael Gunning (Swimming), and Simon Haernick (Rowing).

British LGBT Awards:

As the new decade commences, it is important to highlight the desperate need for youth services in England. Over the last 10 years, spending on youth services has been cut by a shocking 69%. Despite the high demand for the services, young people are no longer getting the support they need or deserve!

Following the success of the British LGBT award in 2019, they created a national survey to "gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of young LGBT+ people". Their founding's are as follows:

Coming out:

68.5% of respondents would not be comfortable coming out to their immediate family. 76.75% of BAME respondents would not be comfortable coming out to their immediate family. 41.67% of as many female respondents as male, identified as bisexual, queer or pansexual.

Gender:

83.66% of respondents said that people should be able to explore their gender identity at any age. 61.54 of trans respondents have experienced apprehension at using gender-specific facilities. 33.85% of trans youth have encountered physical bullying, twice that of cisgender LGBT+ youth.

Social media and branding:

65.2% of social media users reported that they saw the most homophobic content on Facebook. 89.47% of respondents would be more likely to buy from a brand that actively supports LGBT+. 83.04% of respondents said that customer service departments should use more inclusive language.

The British LGBT Awards will take place on Friday 29th May 2020 in London in partnership with NatWest.

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