These are the gay icons and LGBT stars who have died in 2016.
Inclusion in this list is not indicative of a person’s sexuality, but a tribute to their work for the LGBT community in their lifetime which earned them the mantle of “gay icon” or LGBT ally.
David Bowie
Singer, Songwriter, 11th January 2016
David Bowie passed away at the age of 69 after an 18 month battle with cancer. His son Duncan Jones confirmed the news.
David Bowie’s sexuality was well documented and discussed. He came out as gay in 1972, two years into his marriage with Angie Bowie during an interview with Melody Maker.
In 1976 he confirmed he was bisexual. Four years later in 1980 Angie Bowie and David divorced.
By 1983 he declared that calling himself bisexual was the “biggest mistake” he had ever made and once again made the statement that he was a “closet homosexual”.
Alan Rickman
Actor, 14th January 2016
Alan Rickman was 69 when he passed away after a battle with cancer.
He recently won a fresh legion of fans as the rather camp Professor Snape in the Harry Potter franchise of films and as the equally camp Hans Gruber in Die Hard With A Vengeance in 1995.
Tony Warren
Coronation Street creator and writer, 2nd March 2016
Tony Warren passed away after a short illness at the age of 79. He created Coronation Street in 1960 for ITV, when he was just 24. He wrote the first 13 episodes of what would become the UK’s longest running soap drama.
He was always openly gay, even at a time when homosexuality was illegal in the UK.
Haydn Pope
AXM owner, 21st March 2016
The owner of AXM, Haydn Pope died after “losing his fight” with cancer according to a Facebook post on the company’s page posted over the weekend. He was 49.
Gaydio’s morning team Chris and Emma, paid tribute to Mr. Pope saying that he was an amazing man, who was always supportive of Gaydio, especially in its early days.
Denise Robertson
Agony Aunt 2nd April 2016
Long standing agony aunt for ITV’s This Morning. She joined the morning team at the very beginning and helped 1000s of people across the UK. She was particularly helpful to members of the LGBT community coming to terms with their sexuality and dealing with family fall out after coming out.
She was 83 and died after a “short but determined” battle with cancer.
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