Adrian Gillan looks back on the year that was, asking prominent queers what they made of it all.

Peter Tatchell (human rights campaigner - www.petertatchell.net; www.tatchellrightsfund.org)

Highs of ‘07: Stopping the deportation from Britain of the Iranian lesbian refugee, Pegah Emambakhsh, which probably saved her from imprisonment, torture and possible execution. Helping win asylum for two gay Iraqi refugees, Ibba and Haider, who fled attempts by fundamentalist death squads to kill them. Persuading five top Jamaican singers to sign the Reggae Compassionate Act and condemn homophobic violence. The outlawing of anti-gay discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

Lows of ‘07: The hanging of 21-year old Makvan Mouloodzadeh in Iran, on trumped up charges of male rape. Labour candidate Miranda Grell's paedophile smear campaign against her gay Lib Dem rival. The closure of three LGBT safe houses in Iraq, due to lack of funding. Gordon Brown's embrace of the homophobic tyrant, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Holding the Commonwealth Summit in anti-gay Uganda. The violent suppression of Moscow Gay Pride.

Wish for ‘08: Repeal of the UK’s ban on same-sex civil marriage. The Pope and ten Cardinals are caught having an orgy with teenage boys and are forced to resign in disgrace.

Ben Summerskill (Chief Executive, Stonewall - www.stonewall.org.uk)

Highs of ‘07: Our new “goods and services” protections, introduced in April, will wrap around the lives of millions of lesbian and gay people. Not only are better public services now on the cards but insurance companies and hotels will never be able to discriminate against gay people again. These protections were secured in the face of determined opposition from Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, but decency (and the power of our prayers!) prevailed.

Lows of ‘07: Much lower than a lowlight, somewhere in the gutter, was the repulsive spectacle of dozens of small children being forced by “Christian” campaigners to stand in the freezing cold in Parliament Square during protests against the “goods and services” laws. Forced to shout homophobic slogans, the tots were a vivid reminder of the importance of Stonewall’s Education for All campaign, tackling homophobia in Britain’s schools.

Wish for ‘08: That our protections for lesbian mums and gay dads are passed by Parliament, alongside those against incitement to homophobic hatred; that every pupil in the country sees one of Stonewall’s new “Some People are Gay. Get over it!” posters in their school; and that another million people join the ranks of employers participating in Stonewall’s Diversity Champions fairness-at-work programme.

Nick Partridge OBE (Chief Executive, Terrence Higgins Trust - www.tht.org.uk)

Highs of ‘07: 2007 saw the 25th anniversary of Terrence Higgins Trust - an amazing achievement of community commitment, determination and inspiration. We’ve campaigned for better health care and against homophobia and HIV stigma and discrimination. We’ve reached hundreds of thousands of gay men with our safer sex work and we’ve offered support to more people living with HIV than ever.

Lows of ‘07: Increasing rates of STIs and HIV among gay men. Between 1997 and 2006, new diagnoses rose by 112%. Gay men are continuing to take too many risks with their sexual health and aren’t coming forward for testing. In fact, research shows a lot of men with HIV are attending GUM clinics but remaining undiagnosed because they don’t take the test. We're opening more community clinics to make testing easier, faster and more accessible.

Wish for ‘08: I hope that everyone will work together to reduce HIV and improve sexual health. To find out what you can do, look at our “Call to Action” at www.tht.org.uk.

Gregory Woods (Professor of Lesbian & Gay Studies, Nottingham Trent University - gregory.woods@ntu.ac.uk)

Highs of ‘07: The Sexual Orientation Regulations, banning anti-gay discrimination in the provision of goods and services. Somehow, despite its many faults, the present government manages significant moments of progressivism.

Lows of ‘07: The recent announcement of a 36% cut in funding for gay men's HIV prevention in London. Watch these bastards turn the clocks back to the worst years of the epidemic.

Wish for ‘08: Schism in the Church of England, as vitriolic and messy as possible, with the anti-gay rumpus continuing to show itself in its true colours.

Reverend Richard Kirker (General Secretary, Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement - www.lgcm.org.uk)

Highs of ‘07: Appointing LGCM’s first full-time Assistant Chief Executive, Rev Sharon Ferguson; hosting the first Faith, Homophobia and Human Rights conference; receiving the Matthew Windibank Gay Police Association Award; and speaking at the Pre-Launch of LGBT History Month in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Lows of ‘07: Observing the continued inroads being made by fundamentalist religion into all spheres of life. For instance, the bizarre, divisive growth in faith schools which will undoubtedly lead to an increase in homophobia; and the doling out of vast amounts of public money to the voluntary sector without any real monitoring or checks to ensure this money is not used complicity to subsidise or promote covert forms of homophobia. Also: seeing so many religious leaders betray their contempt for lesbian and gay people - in the case of Joel Edwards, the Executive Director of the Evangelical Alliance, being honoured for it, by being appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Wish for ‘08: My relief at handing over the LGCM after 30 years (early retirement beckons) in confident, strong and defiant shape is buttressed by the knowledge that there are legions of determined people throughout the UK who are committed to challenging homophobia. That said, there needs to be many more if our detractors are to be defeated.

KEY EVENTS OF 2007 IN THE GAY UK…

• JANUARY – Dis-inhibiting drug methamphetamine - commonly known as crystal meth - is reclassified from Class B up to Class A: meaning seven years in jail for possession, and up to life for those who manufacture or deal it.
• FEBRUARY - 38-year old Gary Frisch - co-founder of Gaydar, the world's most popular gay online dating site - leaps to his death from a balcony in London, high on ketamine (a.k.a. Special K).
• FEBRUARY - Dame Judi Dench looses out at the Oscars, despite her superb portrayal in Notes on a Scandal of a complex and closeted lesbian teacher who slyly and cruelly plots to manipulate an affair between another female teacher (Cate Blanchett) she adores and an underage male pupil.
• MARCH - Actor John "I'm free" Inman - most famous for playing Mr Humphries in the hit 1970s TV comedy Are You Being Served? - dies aged 71, after a long illness. More recently, he was celebrated as a top panto dame, playwright and – more controversially - retro-kitsch gay idol.
• APRIL - The House of Lords votes in new protections against discrimination of gay people in the provision of goods and services - ranging from public healthcare to private hotel rooms.
• APRIL - Guests at Stonewall’s 9th Equality Dinner raise over £230k; and hear a keynote speech from then PM, Tony Blair. • MAY - 59-year old BP chief exec, Lord Browne, quits after admitting lying to Court in an attempt to stop media publicly outing him by exposing a relationship he had had with a 27-year old male he met through an escort agency – and who was claiming he had misused BP expenses.
• MAY - Arrests and violent attacks mar attempts at mounting Moscow’s 2nd Gay Pride. Dozens of marchers – including veteran activist Peter Tatchell – are arrested after being beaten by gangs of neo-Nazis, nationalist extremists and Russian Orthodox fundamentalists, with the apparent collusion of sections of the Moscow police and Russian riot squads.
• JUNE - George Michael plays the first ever concerts at the new Wembley Stadium, seven years after Bon Jovi bowed out at the old stadium in August 2000; and a mere day after being sentenced to 100 hours community service and a two year motoring ban after pleading guilty to being unfit to drive, due to "tiredness and prescribed drugs".
• JUNE - Former Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes heads a star-studded line up on Pride London’s main stage in Trafalgar Square.
• JULY - Bisexual jazz singer, Soho swinger and life-and-soul George Melly dies aged 80 – wife by his side. He had been suffering from dementia and lung cancer, for which he refused treatment.
• JULY - The Bishop of Hereford is found guilty of discrimination after blocking a unanimous panel decision to appoint one John Reaney to a youth work post in his diocese, after a meeting in which Reaney was humiliatingly cross-examined by the Bishop about his private life.
• AUGUST - An estimated 150,000 people take part in the Brighton Pride climax festivities at Preston Park, after a massive musicals-themed parade.
• SEPTEMBER - The PM, Gordon Brown, attends his very first LGBT event - the Absolutely Equal fringe party - hosted by Stonewall, at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth. Dour Brown spends a full ten minutes with delegates, campaigners and party workers at the queer do.
• OCTOBER - The overarching Equality & Human Rights Commission opens shop, bringing together and superseding the work of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission – whilst additionally striving to protect older people, plus LGB and religious minorities.
• OCTOBER - The Government announces its intention to include a criminal offence of “incitement to homophobic hatred” in the new Criminal Justice & Immigration Bill.
• NOVEMBER - Until his recent retirement, Britain's most senior openly-gay cop, Brian Paddick, is selected to stand as Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor, running on a law-and-order ticket.
• NOVEMBER - Former Secretary of the Homosexual Law Reform Society, Antony Grey - who spearheaded the campaign which resulted in the first partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 - is acclaimed Hero of the Year at the 2nd Stonewall Awards ceremony, held at London’s V&A.
• DECEMBER – On World Aids Day (1st Dec), latest stats suggest 1 in 20 UK gay men now live with HIV, rising to at least 1 in 10 in larger cities like London.