Russell T Davies has been named the recipient of this year’s GAY TIMES Honour for Outstanding Impact.

The screenwriter and television executive has placed LGBTQ+ representation at the forefront of his work throughout his career, bringing LGBTQ+ characters, stories and experiences to a mainstream audience.

From Queer As Folk to Bob and Rose, through to Doctor Who, Cucumber, Years and Years, and A Very English Scandal, Russell T Davies has celebrated queerness in its many different forms.

To mark his win, we have an exciting cover story on Russell T Davies’ latest project, It’s A Sin, which will air on Channel 4 in January 2021.

The show follows a group of young friends in London as they grow up in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS epidemic throughout the 1980s.

It’s a remarkable piece of television that once again thrives on Russell T Davies’ knack to write characters and stories that take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

But it also tells the story of the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a British perspective, which hasn’t been presented on this scale until now.

Russell T Davies is in conversation with the show’s cast for the cover story, including Olly Alexander, Lydia West, Omari Douglas, Nathaniel Curtis, and Callum Scott Howells.

“Everything that happens in the series is true in some shape or form,” Russell says in the GAY TIMES Magazine cover story. “Even little details. I watched it last night to remind myself and there really was a medical questionnaire that asked if you’d ever slept with animals. There really were people who died of what you thought was psittacosis, which is what parrots get.

 

“But specifically Jill [is based on truth] because she was a better human being than me. I had friends who died but she literally spent more time on the wards, she was a volunteer and all that stuff. She was just wonderful and in many ways dedicated her whole life to it.”

GAY TIMES Honours 2020 took place between 25-26 November across our digital and social channels.

We are celebrating the individuals and organisations who have had a profound effect on the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the past 12 months.

This year’s Honourees include Kylie Minogue, Shea Couleé, Arlo Parks, Quinn, Tanya Compas, Mermaids, Janaya Future Khan, Taimi and Daniela Santiago.

Interviews with GAY TIMES Honours winners feature in the new issue of GAY TIMES Magazine, which is in stores, available online and on Apple News+ from 27 November.

GAYTIMES+ members get the new issue of GAY TIMES Magazine first, along with exclusive digital content and membership benefits. GAYTIMES+ membership is available globally, and starts at just £3.50/€4/$5 per month. Find out more here.