HIGH-PROFILE Scots including Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, comedian Susan Calman and poet Carol Ann Duffy have been named as some of the most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Britain.
Actor-turned-politician Michael Cashman, now Lord Cashman of Limehouse, topped the Rainbow List, ahead of last year's winner, writer Paris Lees, and religious commentator and musician Vicky Beeching. Scottish Tory leader Davidson was ranked fourth, while TV, radio host and journalist Evan Davis was fifth.
There are also mentions for Olympic diver Tom Daley, Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins, and popstar Sam Smith.
The Rainbow List, the new name for the Independent on Sunday's Pink List, was established in 2000 and has since become a widely received register of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who have worked hard to promote progress and equality in the UK.
Cashman, 63, who came to fame as the character Colin Russell in EastEnders, takes his place at the top of the list in the same week as the funeral of his long-term partner. Labour activist Paul Cottingham, 50, died last month after a four-and-a-half-year cancer battle. His funeral service was attended by actor Sir Ian McKellen, presenter Paul O'Grady and former prime minister Tony Blair.
Further down in the list is Calman, left, at 31, and Duffy, ranked in 51st place. The list also includes the UK's first Muslim drag queen, Asif Quraishi - at number 86 - and groundbreaking poet, Kate Tempest, who is at 90.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article