Michael Cashman

British Labour politician and former actor who played the first multi-dimensional gay character on a British soap, EastEnders, starting from August 1986 running through February 1989. His coworkers on the TV series included John Altman, Letitia Dean, Leslie Grantham, Sophie Lawrence and Anna Wing. Cashman reprised his role as Colin Russell in EastEnders for two episodes in September 2016. Cashman became a spokesperson for gay rights and was a director of the charity, Stonewall, dedicated to eroding prejudice and ignorance. On 23 September 2014, Cashman was appointed the Labour Party's special envoy on LGBT issues worldwide. Cashman registered a civil partnership with Paul Cottingham, his partner of over twenty years, on 11 March 2006. They met in 1983 and were together for 31 years until Cottingham died. A fellow actor and humanitarian activist, Cottingham also worked for the Labour Party as High Value fundraiser and for Britain in Europe, became Cashman's researcher during Cashman's time in the European Parliament. In March 2011 he was diagnosed with a very rare cancer, angiosarcoma, and he died on 23 October 2014 in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. Link to Wikipedia biography