GALAS 2020 nominations open for awards honouring the LGBT+ community

With the GALAS award ceremony taking place in February 2020, it's time to nominate who you believe gives most to support our wonderful community.

Events . Written by Peter Dunne.

A group of winners at the GALAS 2020

One of the highlights of Ireland’s LGBT+ calendar is about to make a return. The GALAS 2020 award ceremony will take place on February 8 at the Mansion house, Dublin, honouring the contributions of people, companies and organisations to our LGBT+ community.

And the nominations for these awards are officially open!

For those who don’t know, the GALAS were established by the NXF (National LGBT Federation) in 2009. Since then, over 116 individuals, companies and organisations have been recognised for their outstanding work and contributions to the queer community.

In 2019, the NXF celebrated 40 years of activism in Ireland and these awards will be an opportunity for us to come together not only to celebrate this incredible milestone but also, more importantly, to acknowledge the contribution of others to our community.

Here’s all you need to know about the GALAS 2020:

When do the 2019/20 nominations close?

At 5pm on Sunday December 8 2019.

Who can vote?

Voting is only open to residents and citizens of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.  The GALAS recognise the contribution of individuals, groups, organisations and companies from within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

How does the nomination process work?

The public nominates in each category.  A long-list is formed from all nominations.  At the end of the nominations process the long-lists for each category will be distributed to LGBT+ organisations throughout Ireland. These organisations will select four nominees from the long-list who will make it to the short-list. Shortlisted nominees are selected using the reasons provided in the nominating process and judged against a clear selection criterion provided by the National LGBT Federation. 

Is there a public vote for the winners?

Winners in all categories except Arts/Entertainment, Public Figure and International Activist are chosen by the board of the National LGBT Federation. The winner of the Arts/Entertainment Award and the Public Figure Award will be chosen by a public vote.

The list of award categories are as follows:

GALAS 2020 LGBT+ Community Awards (public nomination)

  • Community Organisation of the Year – paid staff
    Community Organisation of the Year – volunteer staff
    Volunteer of the Year
    Event of the Year
    LGBT+ Young Trailblazer
    LGBT+ Digital Change Maker
    Sports Award
    Arts and Entertainment
    Noel Walsh HIV Activism     (In memory of GCN’s much-missed HIV editor, Noel Walsh)

GALAS 2020 LGBT+ Champions Awards (public nomination)

  • LGBT+ Ally
    Outstanding Company
    LGBT+ Role Model
    LGBT+ Employee Resource Group
    LGBT+ Public Figure 

GALAS 2020 Outstanding Achievement Awards (selected nomination)

  • International Activist (Individuals are nominated by Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders and the NXF)
    Person of the Year
    Lifetime Achievement

So there you have it! If you would like to make your nominations or find out more about GALAS 2020, you can visit their website here. Have your say on who from our LGBT+ family should be honoured.

© 2019 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

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