Picture gallery by Tracy Gill.

A SPECIAL evening celebrating local heroes in the LGBT+ community in Bradford went ahead last night after being forced to postpone its awards night in February because of the snow.

The Bradford Pride Awards took place in City Hall and celebrated groups and residents who had given their time to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the district.

During the evening tributes were paid to the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shootings in 2016 and the recent persecution of gay and bisexual men in Chechnya.

Event organiser, Councillor Richard Dunbar who is the council’s LGBT+ champion said the awards was the perfect showcase for the contribution the LGBT+ community makes to the district.

He said: “What the event shows is how inclusive and diverse Bradford is as a district. We are willing to challenge injustice, not only in this city but across the world as well.

“Bradford’s support for the LGBT+ community enhances the district’s reputation in the eyes of everyone.

Keynote speaker was Superintendent Alisa Newman, of West Yorkshire Police, who said she was a proud member of the police force and a proud member of the LGBT+ community.

She said: “It is really special for me to be here.

“From a policing perspective and the journey West Yorkshire Police have been on, we have come a long way.

“Looking back 50 years from being the enforcers of legislation that criminalised a man for loving a man, to where we are today with West Yorkshire Police working towards achieving a top 100 spot in Stonewalls workforce equality index and being an LGBT+ employer, that’s a long journey over 50 years.”

She outlined her concerns that the law can change much quicker than attitudes and there was still a lot of hate crime towards people, as well as domestic abuse among the LGBT+ community was under reported.

“We know hate crime is massively under reported within the LGBT community,” she said.

“We (West Yorkshire Police) have done a lot of work to try and understand why it is under reported and are doing work across communities.

“We do need to build trust and confidence.”

Poems were read by Lynne Calvert and Soraya Vivian and guest singer was Nathan Anthony.

MC for the evening was Eleanor Barrett, of the Brickbox

and the welcome address was given by Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Zafar Ali.

Awards were presented by Lisa Lee, of Transmission; Supt Alisa Newman and PC Gemma Harman; Dave Forest of Volunteer Bradford; Tom Doyle of Mesmac; Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe; Candy Nightclub and Bar; Professor Udy Archibong of Bradford University; and Ann Kendal, of Equity Partnership.

Category winners were: LGBT Group - Phoenix Youth Group.

LGBT+ Volunteer Award - Mary Guthrie.

LGBT+ Community Champion - Amid Ahmed.

LGBT+ Friendly Award - Bingley Inclusion Youth Club.

The Bradford Scene Award - Paul Holdsworth.

Award for Outstanding Contribution to the LGBT+ Community (1) - Charles Dacres.

Award for Outstanding Contribution to the LGBT+ Community (2) - Rachel Nauwelaerts.

In total there had been 35 nominations made for the categories and award winners were chosen by a panel made up of representatives from the LGBT+ community, Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police.

In his closing address, Cllr Dunbar said: “ I have been incredibly inspired by everything I have heard tonight.

“People think that sometimes when things are difficult and going wrong and you are up against it that we can’t make a difference but people in this room, tonight with our knowledge, with our strength, with our inspiration all the things we can do together.

“We can go ask those questions, we can challenge those authorities. I want you lot to come and challenge me as one of your elected members.

“I want you to come and challenge other elected members on the council if something’s not going right.

"I want you to challenge the MPs.

“We are the people who can make this positive change in Bradford, across the country and internationally. "Carry on being proud and let’s make that difference."