The actress Emma Watson is in the news at the moment, following her UN speech last week in which she called on men to help end gender inequality through a new campaign, HeForShe.

The campaign has, as one might hope, been met with wide approval. Countless celebrities, members of the public and organisations have since tweeted pictures of themselves holding up the #HeForShe hashtag in solidarity.

But it has also attracted negative publicity, particularly for Watson.

Shortly after her speech, a hoax website threatened to publish nude photos of the Harry Potter star, while some media outlets took the bizarre decision to focus on what the actress wore, rather than what she said.

Clearly then, the issue of gender equality still has some way to run.

And if there is still resistance to the idea of women being considered equal to men, then how far away are we from recognising Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Trans people as equal too?

And what if you’re not only a woman, but openly gay with it?

Kingston Hospital’s chief executive Kate Grimes is such a person.

Last week she was named one of the NHS’ top 25 LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Trans) role models by the Health Service Journal.

The mother-of-two was praised by judges, who said: “To be openly gay, while working as the chief executive of a major organisation such as an NHS trust, brings unique pressures and requires a particular person to manage it successfully.”

But getting to the top of her profession has not always been easy, Ms Grimes confides.

“I’ve encountered difficulties, both as a member of staff and as a user of the health service,” she says.

“Just last week I had to visit my GP and two people asked about my husband and I had to correct them.

“Every time you’re in that situation you have to take a deep breath.

“But I think the more visible you are, the more people will begin to think about the language they use and the assumptions they make.”

While she accepts the NHS, like so many other organisations, has some work to do around LGBT issues, she also says there have been marked improvements over the years.

Although she doesn’t go into detail, she says giving birth to her first child 22 years ago “wasn’t easy, with hostility towards her and her partner from some staff”.

Then 12 years ago, when her partner gave birth to their second child, Ms Grimes had to apply for paternity leave.

“Things are certainly a lot better than they were,” she says. “But there’s very clear research which shows the LGBT community have worse outcomes than the national population.

“They can find it very difficult to access health services, and when they do there’s a fear there will be a negative reaction.

“If you believe that every time you’re going to be dealing with an awkward situation, I think that can put a lot of people off using the health service.”

The answer to that, Ms Grimes believes, is to lead by example.

“If I can be visible, I think it makes it easier for other staff and our patients as well,” she says. “That for me is really important.”