Here are the 10 winners of the 2026 PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways 

From musicians whose work has soundtracked generations to campaigners transforming LGBTQ+ rights across Europe, the recipients of this year’s PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways, represent the extraordinary breadth of queer excellence.

Spanning activism, sport, journalism, literature, entertainment and community organising, the 2026 honourees have each challenged prejudice, broken barriers and created lasting change for LGBTQ+ people, whether on the global stage or within their own communities.

Among this year’s recipients are pioneering musicians, a BAFTA-winning poet, fearless journalists, grassroots activists, sporting trailblazers and cultural institutions whose impact stretches far beyond borders. Together, they remind us that Pride is not simply a celebration, but an ongoing commitment to visibility, equality and creating a better future for those who follow.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s winners.

Pride Icon: Placebo

Few songs have captured queer rebellion quite like ‘Nancy Boy’. Thirty years after its release, Placebo’s defining anthem continues to resonate with LGBTQ+ people around the world, having evolved from a provocative Britpop-era single into an enduring symbol of self-expression and resistance.

Throughout their career, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal have refused to conform, embracing gender nonconformity, bisexual visibility and alternative identity long before such conversations entered the mainstream. Their willingness to live authentically in public has inspired generations of LGBTQ+ fans, making them fitting recipients of this year’s Pride Icon Award.

Pride Icon: Cat Burns

The singer-songwriter has become one of Britain’s most relatable young artists by pairing chart success with remarkable honesty.

Her openness about receiving diagnoses of autism and ADHD, particularly during her appearance on The Celebrity Traitors, sparked an outpouring of support from viewers who saw themselves reflected on screen. Through her second album How to Be Human, Burns has continued exploring grief, neurodivergence and queer love with warmth and vulnerability, creating space for conversations that remain underrepresented in mainstream music.

Pride Icon: James Longman

As ABC News’s chief international correspondent, Longman has reported from some of the world’s most dangerous places to be LGBTQ+, often as an openly gay journalist.

Whether documenting persecution in Chechnya or covering conflict across the Middle East and beyond, Longman has consistently brought humanity to stories that might otherwise remain unseen. His reporting has highlighted the realities facing LGBTQ+ communities worldwide while demonstrating extraordinary personal courage.

Tuntenball

For more than three decades, Austria’s Tuntenball has transformed a slur into one of Europe’s most joyful celebrations of LGBTQ+ community.

Founded in Graz in 1991, the annual event has grown from a university gathering into a spectacular ball welcoming around 2,500 guests while raising vital funds for LGBTQ+ counselling, asylum support and community services. Its unique blend of activism, celebration and allyship has established Tuntenball as one of Europe’s defining queer cultural institutions.

Grace Richardson

Richardson made history when she became the first openly gay winner of Miss England.

After enduring homophobic bullying throughout her school years, Richardson channelled her experiences into rebuilding her confidence through modelling and pageantry. Her groundbreaking victory has expanded representation within one of Britain’s longest-running beauty competitions while offering greater visibility for young LGBTQ+ women growing up today.

Keighley Cougars

Since Ryan O’Neill and Kaue Garcia rescued Keighley Cougars from the brink of collapse, they have transformed the rugby league club into one of the UK’s most proudly LGBTQ+-inclusive sporting organisations.

By introducing Pride matches, championing drag performers and standing firmly behind trans inclusion despite sustained abuse, the couple have shown how sport can bring communities together. Their work has challenged stereotypes surrounding rugby league while helping create a more welcoming future for LGBTQ+ fans and players alike.

Dean Atta

The poet and author continues to redefine how Black queer stories are told.

His acclaimed poem Two Black Boys in Paradise found a new audience through its award-winning stop-motion adaptation, which claimed the BAFTA for British Short Animation. Across his writing, mentoring and screen work, Atta centres tenderness, belonging and queer joy, demonstrating the transformative power of authentic storytelling.

Diogo Vieira da Silva

For two decades, da Silva has been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ equality in Portugal.

From campaigning for comprehensive sex education to founding multiple non-profit organisations and helping strengthen Pride in Porto, Vieira da Silva has dedicated his career to ensuring LGBTQ+ people are both visible and heard. His belief that dialogue, visibility and community can drive lasting social change continues to shape Portugal’s equality movement.

Massimo Milani

Few people have shaped Italy’s LGBTQ+ movement more profoundly than Milani.

Co-founding Arcigay in Palermo in 1980 alongside husband Gino Campanella and fellow activists, Milani helped transform outrage over anti-gay violence into a nationwide movement that continues to advocate for equality today. More than four decades later, Arcigay remains one of Italy’s leading LGBTQ+ organisations, while Milani’s lifelong commitment to community-building continues to inspire new generations.

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard

The creator has built one of YouTube’s most influential platforms dedicated to LGBTQ+ and disability advocacy.

With more than one million subscribers, she combines education, humour and deeply personal storytelling to challenge misconceptions surrounding disability, deafness and queer identity. By sharing her own experiences with honesty and optimism, Kellgren-Fozard has helped countless people feel seen while broadening public understanding of intersectionality and inclusion.

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