Brian Kennedy (4 April 1953 – 29 December 1990) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and LGBT rights activist who helped set up the

London Lesbian and Gay Centre The London Lesbian and Gay Centre was a lesbian and gay community centre located at 67–69 Cowcross Street, London.''The global emergence of gay and lesbian politics: national imprints of a worldwide movement'', Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvend ...

in 1985 and the Pink Singers in 1983. He was the editor of ''Kennedy's Gay Guide to London'' and a victim of the AIDS epidemic.

Career

Kennedy graduated from the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

with a DPhil in Biochemistry in 1979 and thereafter researched cancer at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

. He then moved into journalism, writing for

City Limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

and other publications about

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

before they became prominent in the mainstream press. He also mediated between the gay community and the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, gaining the respect of the latter for his work.

Work with the gay and lesbian community

Kennedy edited 'Kennedy's Gay Guide to London' and was the driving force behind the establishment of London's first lesbian and gay choir, the Pink Singers. He was inspired by the gay community choirs which already existed in the US and persuaded Mark Bunyan, the choir's first Musical Director, to set up the Pink Singers in April 1983.

Brian Kennedy Award

After his death in 1990, the Gay Business Association created the Brian Kennedy Award in his name to recognize people who have made a significant contribution to the gay and lesbian communities. Recipients of the Brian Kennedy Award include

Angela Mason Angela Margaret Mason (born 9 August 1944) is a British civil servant and activist, and a former director of the UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lobbying organisation Stonewall. She is a former Chair of the Fawcett Society, a ...

Nick Partridge Sir Nicholas Wyndham Partridge (born 28 August 1955) is a British health care and HIV/ AIDS care activist. Early life Partridge was born in Rickmansworth on 28 August 1955 to Miles and Patricia Partridge. He attended West Somerset School in ...

, Chris Smith MP, Ken Livingstone and

Ann Keen Ann Lloyd Keen (''née'' Fox; born 26 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. ...

MP, who received the award after she introduced the

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

for an equal age of consent.

Brian Kennedy Long Service Awards

Because of his integral role in founding the Pink Singers, the LGBT choral long-service awards were named in Brian Kennedy's honour. The first of these awards were given out at the second 'Hand in Hand' festival at Brighton in June 2015. Bronze was given to those who had participated in an LGBT choir for 10 years, silver for 20 years and gold for 30 years. Rose Collis, Kennedy's co-editor at City Limits, spoke at the event, as did Hsien Chew of the Pink Singers and the Proud Voices network, who was the prime mover in setting up the awards.

References

1953 births 1991 deaths Alumni of the University of York English biochemists English LGBT rights activists English gay writers English LGBT journalists English LGBT scientists Gay journalists Gay scientists {{UK-journalist-stub