2023 Shortlisted Nominee
Positive Role Model Award: LGBT
Former CEO of Gay Men Fighting AIDS, Matthew is Executive Director of NAM aidsmap – a community-based charity which supports people living with HIV globally. Matthew’s journey as an LGBTQ+ rights activist began in the 1980’s where he became heavily involved in the struggles for LGBTQ+ equality, ferociously protesting against Section 28. Diagnosed with HIV when he was 30, Matthew has now in excess of 20 years tackling the stigma around the topic, sharing information about the condition to help prevent transmission and to support the lives of those living with HIV around the world. His fight to ensure that the HIV and sexual, emotional health needs of the LGBTQI community are addressed have seen him named overall winner of the 2017 Social CEO Awards and feature on the Pride Power List alongside some of the most influential LGBTQI people in the UK.