大象传媒

is the 大象传媒's celebration of the 50 year anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised gay sex. Across the 大象传媒 (including Radio 1 of course), you'll hear special programmes on LGBTQ+ culture, history and icons.

But while Gay Britannia is a celebration of how things have changed over the past five decades, there's still a long way to go for the gay community. Fortunately, some of our favourite stars are outspoken supporters and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

These are some of the most inspirational stars who work to support the LGBTQ+ community.

Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander is one of most inspiration young stars on the UK music scene and is outspoken on mental health and LGBTQ+ rights. Olly hopes his role as one of the UK's most prominent out celebrities will have a positive impact on his young fans - and become a gay role model that was missing for him when he was younger.

"When I meet gay kids and they know who we are, I remember that's amazing because literally every gay person in every gay story I knew growing up was doomed to die," he told GQ magazine.

"There weren't any positive gay stories and it's incredible that has changed."

Olly has also spoken openly about his struggle with relationships and criticised the lack of any gay sex education for young LGBTQ+ people in the UK.

Troye Sivan earned critical acclaim for his debut album Blue Neighbourhood, but there was an equal amount of praise for his videos from the album.

His Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy (Wild, Fools and Talk Me Down) featured an emotional narrative about a young gay relationship. A second video for Wild (featuring Alessia Cara) was also packed with happy LGBTQ+ couples and his Heaven video (featuring Betty Who) featured real-life footage from gay rights protests and vintage footage of LGBTQ+ relationships.

"As a community, we’ve come so far, but we clearly have a very, very long way to go," said Troye in an interview with Teen Vogue.

"Now, it’s my job and our job to keep pushing that forward and keep things moving in the right direction."

Troye says he is as inspired by young gay people are they are by him.

"I think the thing that never ceases to inspire and amaze me is young queer people and the fight they innately have in them," he added.

Miley Cyrus may be in a happy relationship with Hollywood star Liam Hemsworth, but the Malibu singer is a proud and outspoken member of the LGBQT+ community. She identifies as pansexual.

"I always hated the word ‘bisexual,’ because that’s even putting me in a box," she told Variety magazine in 2016.

"Even though I may seem very different, people may not see me as neutral as I feel.

"Once I understood my gender more, which was unassigned, then I understood my sexuality more."

As well as speaking openly about her own fluid sexuality, Miley is also the founder of The Happy Hippie Foundation, which supports LGBTQ+ and homeless youth - among other 'vulnerable' young people.

Cara Delevingne has brought bisexuality to the mainstream, having been very open about her preferences since the early days of her modelling career.

"I've been pretty open about myself from the beginning," she told The Daily Mail in 2015.

"I think it's wonderful that you know, it's being accepted more and more.

"I think everyone has a right to be whoever they want to be, so I’m just very happy."

At the time she was dating singer St Vincent, from whom she has since separated.

Despite a number of LGBTQ+ controversies during her career (her first single was called UR So Gay), Katy Perry has done more than most pop stars to support the LGBTQ+ community.

"Honestly, I haven’t always gotten it right, but in 2008 when that song came out, I knew that I started a conversation that a lot of the world seemed curious enough to sing along to," she said about her song I Kissed A Girl, as she collected the National Equality Award at the 2017 Human Rights Campaign Gala in LA in March 2017.

"Truth be told, I did more than that. But how was I going to reconcile that with the gospel-singing girl raised in youth groups that were pro-conversion camps?

"What I did know was that I was curious and even then I knew sexuality wasn’t as black and white as this dress."

More recently she performed her single Swish Swish on US TV with a collection of New York's finest drag queen stars.

Harry Styles has refused to label his own sexuality, telling The Sun newspaper in 2017 that it is not something he ever felt the need to explain about himself.

Also, while promoting his debut album on French TV show Quotidien this year, he shared his views on gay rights, saying he didn't think it should be a political matter.

"That doesn’t feel like politics to me. Stuff like equality feels much more fundamental," he said.

"I feel like everyone is equal. That doesn’t feel like politics to me."

Under-appreciated Canadian pop queen Carly Rae Jepsen has found critical acclaim with her slick pop sounds and has a huge gay following.

The feeling is mutual and Carly has been an ally to the LGBTQ+ community since her early years.

"I had one friend in particular, and I saw just how hard it was for him when his family found out he was gay - they shunned him, actually," she told Pridesource in 2015.

"He thought he was gonna have to make it on his own and move out - it was heartbreaking for all of us.

"We didn't really understand it, and that's probably when I began to really get angry about the pain that was caused for what I thought was no reason."

During her career, however, she's proud to have been a part of society's changing attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community.

"When we got marriage equality and there was a celebration for that in New York City, it was an honour to be a part of that. I can’t explain it," she said.

"There are some performances that you do and you’re like, “That was cool, that was fun.” That one was different fun. It was so memorable and an incredible thing to be a part."

Little Mix made a powerful statement with their 2016 single, Secret Love Song, which the girls say is about unrequited love between a gay couple.

However, this message was sadly toned down when the song was released, with their co-star Jason Derulo saying the song was instead about dating a woman who already had a boyfriend.

This hasn't stopped Little Mix dedicating the song to LGBTQ+ fans at their concerts, along with messages of support to gay followers online.

The video for the song featured the girls and Jason Derulo performing in London, but was originally planned to feature a storyline about an LGBTQ+ couple.

Despite these scenes never making it into the final video, Jade from Little Mix says that is how the girls wanted it to be.

More recently, Little Mix included RuPaul's Drag Race stars Alaska, Courtney Act and Willam in their Power video.

For one of the most famous popstars on the planet, Rihanna's good deeds often take place away from the mainstream.

In 2016, she helped a gay fan come out after the two chatted on direct messages on Twitter. He chose to remain anonymous, but shared screengrabs from their conversation with Buzzfeed.

"It's okay to be scared, but it's more important to be who you are," she wrote to the fan.

"Your family may not understand you but luckily you live in a generation that does.

"And not to mention the community here amongst us, we will hold you down boo," she added, referring to her tight-knit fanbase.

Demi Lovato is one of the most open and outspoken young stars in music and has been a proud LGBTQ+ ally throughout her career.

In 2014 she was Grand Marshall at LA Pride and the lead performer at New York Pride Week and was the face of Human Rights Campaign's America's for Marriage Equality.

She was honoured for her support at the 2016 GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), where she received the Vanguard Award for her impact in promoting equal rights.

"She is an extraordinary ally who is committed to helping young people embrace who they are and live the lives they love," GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement about Demi.

And Demi's speech at the 2016 was equally powerful.

"You should always love yourself for who you are," she said, addressing her gay fans and LGBTQ+ fans everywhere.

"The skin that you're in – whether you identify with it and are afraid to tell people – go for it! You can do it. Have no fear."