GLAAD Media Awards: Bad Bunny, Christina Aguilera & Jeremy Pope honored

Recent Grammy winners Bad Bunny, Christina Aguilera and Jeremy Pope will be honored at the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards next month for their advancement and support of the LGBTQ community.

Bad Bunny – Spotify’s most streamed artist in the world last year – receives the Vanguard Award for “making a significant difference in advancing the acceptance of LGBTQ people and issues.” Five-time Grammy winner Aguilera receives the Advocate for Change Award for “changing the game for LGBTQ people around the world.” And attitude Alum and two-time Tony nominee Pope receives Stephen F. Kolzak Award for “making a significant difference in increasing the visibility and advancing acceptance of LGBTQ people and issues.”

Read bios for all three below. The award ceremony will take place at the March 30 ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.

Bad Bunny’s advocacy and outspoken coalition for the LGBTQ community has reached millions around the world, using his art to advocate for equality. “Bad Bunny uses his role as one of the world’s most popular music artists to boldly shine a spotlight on LGBTQ people and issues, including transgender equality and ending violence against trans women of color,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, said. “Consistently defending our community, elevating our stories and calling for action from anti-LGBTQ leaders, Bad Bunny is redefining the positive impact Latin music artists can have within the LGBTQ community and has set an example for all artists. “

Aguilera has used her platform to be a brave advocate for the LGBTQ community, encouraging conversations about acceptance and more through music. “Christina Aguilera is a beloved icon who has inspired and shared messages of love for the LGBTQ community since the beginning of her music career,” Ellis said. “From using her voice to speak out against anti-LGBTQ legislation to creating songs and music videos that showcase LGBTQ love, Christina is loud and proud to raise the bar for what it means to be one today be To be LGBTQ allies.”

Pope has broken barriers on Broadway, television and film, earning two Tony Award nominations as well as Grammy and Emmy nominations. “Jeremy Pope is one of today’s most talented and dynamic actors, bringing important and inspiring stories to life that impact and honor the LGBTQ community,” Ellis said. “Off screen, Pope has used his voice to facilitate important conversations about being an out actor in Hollywood that are essential to removing the stigma and prejudice that affects us actors today.”

Here are GLAAD’s mini-bios of the 2023 nominees:

bad rabbit

Named Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2022 with 8.3 billion streams worldwide, the three-time Grammy Award-winning artist brings his own voice to the fore to help others see themselves in the world.

While reinventing the Latin urban music genre, he keeps LGBTQ people and issues at the forefront of equality and inclusion, especially in Puerto Rico, where he was born. Expressing a variety of voices, experiences and backgrounds, his live performances and music videos show queer love and affection. He dressed up for his music video for “Yo Perreo Sola,” telling Rolling Stone, “I did it to show support for those who need it. I may not be gay, but I’m human.”

At a performance for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The rapper paid tribute to Alexa Negrón Luciano, a trans woman who was killed in the city of Toa Baja, with a shirt in Spanish that read: “You killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt.” In 2019, the artist also contributed, influencing a movement that forced former Puerto Rican governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign after being exposed for corruption and anti-LGBTQ attitudes.

Moving from the sound booth to the big screen, Bad Bunny plans to air the upcoming Netflix adaptation of the New York Times bestseller They Both Die in the End, which features a queer Latinx story.

Former GLAAD Vito Russo Award winner Ricky Martin told Rolling Stone that Bad Bunny is an “icon for the Latin American queer community.”

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera, who has one of the most celebrated voices in history, has used her platform to be a brave advocate for the LGBTQ community and to promote conversations about LGBTQ acceptance and more through music. Most recently, her impact on the LGBTQ community became evident after Michael Anderson, survivor of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, cited her writings when testifying before the US House Oversight Committee on LGBTQ violence. In 2002, Aguilera dedicated her single “Beautiful” to the LGBTQ community, with the line “Words Can’t Bring Us Down” becoming a personal mantra for many queer people. The song evoked a unique awareness and sense of compassion in the face of hate and earned Aguilera special recognition at the 14th GLAAD Media Awards. Last year, the seven-time Grammy winner celebrated 20 years of “Beautiful” with a brand new music video that reminds people how important it is to accept yourself for who you are.

A staunch supporter of LGBTQ rights and visionary on representation, Aguilera raised more than $500 million for HIV research with MAC cosmetics in 2004, opposed Proposition 8 in 2008, and has brought trans dancers and drag artists into the spotlight at the 2012 American Music Awards. Following the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Aguilera dedicated the song “Change” to those affected by the tragedy, with proceeds going to benefit the families of the victims. She later wrote a “Love Letter to the LGBTQ Community” for Billboard in 2017. Her own Pride collection was launched in 2021 to proudly support two non-profit organizations: TransTech and TransLash. Using the power of music to build bridges and call for change, Aguilera has redefined what it means to be a true advocate for the LGBTQ community by creating space for queer voices and talent to shine and thrive : on the part of pioneering LGBTQ artists like Anitta , Syd, Kim Petras, Chika and Michaela Jaé to condemn anti-LGBTQ laws like Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law.

Jeremy Pope

Jeremy Pope is a multifaceted performer who has broken barriers on Broadway, television and film and has been nominated for two Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

His breakthrough screen role as Ellis French in Elegance Bratton’s autobiographical debut feature The Inspection follows an incarcerated black gay man during Marine Corps recruit training in a don’t ask, don’t tell era. This performance earned him his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, as well as a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress.

Pope’s rise from stage to screen began in 2018 when he received two Tony Award nominations in the same season – one for Best Actor in a Play for his Broadway debut in Choir Boy and a second nomination for Best Supporting Actor in ‘ a musical for his appearance in Is not too proud: the life and times of the temptations. Pope was soon cast in Ryan Murphy’s series Hollywood, where he received an Emmy nomination for his lead role as aspiring black screenwriter Archie Coleman. Pope also had a significant arc in “Pose,” and in the final season of the FX series, his character Christopher gave audiences a sense of visibility and connection to trans experiences and people living with HIV.

Pope is about to close his Broadway run as Jean-Michael Basquiat in Manhattan Theater Club’s The Collaboration. He will reprise the role on the big screen later this year.