The highest honors on the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards will probably be introduced to Jeremy Pope, Dangerous Bunny, and Christina Aguilera. Scheduled to be held on the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on March 30, the ceremony will have a good time the trio throughout three separate classes for his or her influence on, and assist of, LGBTQ+ visibility in media.
GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award will probably be introduced to Pope for “breaking obstacles throughout a number of industries as an out LGBTQ media skilled.” Lately, the award has gone to MJ Rodriguez, Janet Mock, Troye Sivan, Sean Hayes, Jim Parsons, and extra.
Final month, in an interview with Selection, Pope revealed that he had misplaced out on a lead function in a significant studio movie after being instructed by a director that his standing as a homosexual man would stop him from with the ability to join with a feminine character. “I needed to undergo that and perceive my price and my existence and the way I need to present up on this enterprise and what I’m keen to tolerate and never tolerate,” he stated.
Dangerous Bunny will probably be honored with a Vanguard Award for his influence on creating area for LBGTQ+ folks with out immediately figuring out as a member of the group himself. Previous recipients of the award embody Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Kacey Musgraves, Britney Spears, and extra.
Final 12 months, Dangerous Bunny made headlines when he kissed a male backup dancer throughout his MTV Video Music Awards efficiency. Only a few weeks prior, trans rapper Villano Antillano was the goal of backlash after kissing one other girl, the Dominican rapper Tokischa, throughout a efficiency of her personal. Dangerous Bunny had equally used his platform throughout public appearances to raise LGBTQ+ points prior to now. Throughout an look on The Tonight Present, after a homeless transgender girl in Puerto Rico named Alexa Negrón Luciano was murdered on the road, the musician wore a shirt that learn: “They Killed Alexa. Not a Man in a Skirt.”
Christina Aguilera will obtain the Advocate for Change Award on the ceremony. The respect, which has solely beforehand been introduced to Madonna in 2019 and Manny de Guerra in 2014, celebrates long-documented shows of allyship in the direction of the LGBTQ+ group.
“I used to be additionally proud to place a highlight on the LGBTQ+ group with my “Stunning” music video, which incorporates a homosexual couple, in addition to a trans girl,” Aguilera wrote in a letter shared via Folks final 12 months, recalling her 2002 music video. “I wasn’t pondering an excessive amount of about it past wanting to indicate folks proudly owning who they’re. It was someway taboo on the time, but it surely represented one thing so true. I nonetheless hear tales about how that video has helped folks, and it means all the pieces to me.”
She added: “There’s nothing like performing for my LGBTQ+ followers. I really feel protected with them to precise myself nonetheless I would like, whether or not it’s via an enormous ballad or one thing tremendous sensual as a result of they admire all of it. I get to be as colourful and loud as I need to be. They’re my folks.”