Paul Martin

 
O.B.E. for Manchester gay rights and equalities campaigner

Press Embargoed: Saturday 11 June 2011, 00:01am

The Chief Executive of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (LGF), Paul Martin, has been awarded an O.B.E. in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, published today (Saturday 11 June 2011).

In response to being awarded the Order of the British Empire, Officer Class, for Services to Equal Opportunities, Paul comments:

“I'm genuinely delighted, it means a great deal to be recognised by your country in this way, and the work that everyone at The LGF has done over the years for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) community is recognised by this award too."

“It's still rare for LGB&T people to be openly recognised in this way for the work we do in our communities. The award is as much for the tireless work of our staff and volunteers, and I hope everyone at The LGF gets a sense of satisfaction from it too.”

Paul first moved to Manchester over 20 years ago to start his career in the LGB&T health field. He was a founder member of Healthy Gay Manchester (HGM) in 1994, and six years later saw HGM merge with Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, to form The Lesbian & Gay Foundation.

Paul has led on research and development programmes on a wide range of lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues, including health inequalities, substance misuse, legal and civil rights, HIV prevention and sexual health promotion. He has worked extensively on capacity building and infrastructure development of the LGB&T sector.

Paul was recently highlighted by Attitude magazine in their role models issue. He is a non-executive director of NHS Manchester, sits on the board of Gaydio, and is also Chair of The National LGB&T Partnership - which is a strategic partner of The Department of Health.

David McGovern, Chair of LGF’s Board of Trustees, highlighted the importance of the award for his colleague, The LGF, and the LGB&T community.

“The LGF's Board of Trustees are all delighted at this achievement, as Chief Executive Paul has been the driver behind The LGF’s success."

“It is extremely important that recognition is given to the LGB&T community. We can and do make a difference, and recognition such as this (for one of our leaders) can only act as encouragement to other members of our community, to step out of the shadows, get involved and move LGB&T rights forward.”

For more information, pictures, or an interview with Paul Martin please contact The Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s Communications Manager, Andrew Gilliver by emailing andrew.gilliver@lgf.org.uk, or call The LGF on 0845 3 30 30 30.

Published: 12-Jun-2011: (580)