The VH1 Trailblazer Honors, also known as the Logo Trailblazer Honors, is the only televised LGBT awards ceremony in the United States. It is an annual awards event founded in 2014 to recognize persons and entities who have made significant contributions towards minority empowerment and civil activism. It has been described as a combined "queer State of the Union, Hall of Fame, and Oscars." The event is aired on Logo TV and VH1.
The VH1 Trailblazer Honors, also known as Logo Trailblazer Honors, is an annually televised awards event, founded in 2014, that recognizes persons and entities who have made significant contributions towards minority empowerment and civil activism. [1] [2] The event is the only LGBT awards ceremony televised in the United States. [3] It has been described as a combined "queer State of the Union, Hall of Fame, and Oscars." [4] In 2018, the event was aired on Logo TV and VH1. [2]
In the 2014 inaugural event, Bill Clinton recognized Edith Windsor and Roberta A. Kaplan for their role in the Defense of Marriage Act. Jason Collins was presented the honor by Lance Bass. Demi Lovato honored cast members of Orange Is the New Black, including Danielle Brooks, Laverne Cox, Lea DeLaria, Taryn Manning, and Samira Wiley. Singer Michael Stipe honored John Abdallah Wambere. Young community leaders were introduced by Daniel Radcliffe. The event included musical performances by Sia, New York City Gay Men's Chorus, A Great Big World, and the band Exousia. The event was attended by celebrities including Joe Manganiello, Ed Sheeran, Jared Leto, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kylie Minogue, Pete Wentz, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azaela, Tegan and Sara, and Laura Jane Grace. [5]
In 2015, Miley Cyrus gave the opening address through a recorded message voicing support for marriage equality and the queer community. Barack Obama gave an address through a video message on the progress of LGBT people. [6] Raven-Symoné and Martin Luther King III were speakers at the event. Musical performances included Adam Lambert and the Bleachers. Other speakers were Laura Jane Grace, Samira Wiley, Tituss Burgess, Tyler Posey, Kelly Osbourne, Betty DeGeneres, Violet Chachki, and Frankie Grande. [6] [7] Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Judith Light, and Ian McKellen were also on stage. [8] This was the first year that the honor "Social Trailblazer" was added. Logo fans voted between four nominees that used social media to advocate for the LGBT community. Nominees included Connor Franta, Joey Graceffa, Jackson Bird, and Gabe Dunn [8] with Franta eventually being named the winner. On behalf of his deceased partner, Bayard Rustin, Walter Naegle accepted the honor. [9] Judy and Dennis Shepard were recognized as "Trailblazing Parents" for co-founding the Matthew Shepard Foundation. [3]
At the 2017 event, musicians, Hayley Kiyoko, Alex Newell, and Wrabel honored Cyndi Lauper with a performance of "True Colors." [10]
The awards given in 2016 took time to remember the 49 victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. [11]
In 2018, the fifth annual Trailblazer Honors event took place at Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which is one of the first religious institutions in New York City supporting LGBTQ causes. [12] The event was attended by activists and celebrities including Janet Mock, Bebe Rexha, the cast of Pose, and finalist from RuPaul's Drag Race. [13]
Year | Name | Area of achievement | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Connor Franta | YouTuber named Logo Social Trailblazer | |
Marsha Aizumi | Ally for trans community, founder of first PFLAG in California for Asian Americans, and author | [14] | |
Sheila Lopez | LGBT advocate and founder of PFLAG chapter for Native Americans in Phoenix, Arizona | ||
Arsham Parsi | LGBT rights activist and founder of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees | [7] | |
Judy Shepard and Dennis Shepard | Parents of Matthew Shepard, advocates for LGBT rights, and co-founders of Matthew Shepard Foundation | ||
Bayard Rustin | Leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights | ||
2016 | The Advocate | The oldest and largest LGBT publication in the United States | [15] |
2014 | Orange Is the New Black cast | For raising awareness on the lives of largely unseen characters in society. Honorees included Danielle Brooks, Laverne Cox, Lea DeLaria, Taryn Manning, and Samira Wiley. | [16] |
John Abdallah Wambere | Ugandan gay rights activist and co-founder of Spectrum Uganda Initiatives | ||
2017 | Jason Collins | First publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues | |
2014 | Roberta A. Kaplan | Lawyer for Edith Windsor in United States v. Windsor | |
Edith Windsor | LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM | [17] | |
2017 | David Kohan and Max Mutchnick | Co-creators of sitcom Will & Grace | |
Alvin Ailey | Choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | ||
Cleve Jones | AIDS and LGBT rights activist | [18] | |
2016 | Billie Jean King | Tennis champion who was forced to come out in 1981. | |
Harvey Fierstein | Playwright and actor | ||
Subhi Nahas | Syrian refugee who is gay and survived torture at the hands of ISIS | ||
Sylvia Rivera | Activist in the LGBT rights movement | ||
Marsha P. Johnson | Activist in the LGBT rights movement | ||
2017 | Cyndi Lauper | Singer-songwriter, actress, and LGBT rights activist | [19] |
2018 | James Baldwin | Novelist and social critic who explored racial, sexual, and class distinctions | |
American Civil Liberties Union | Nonprofit organization aimed at the defense and preservation of constitutional rights and liberties | ||
Ryan Murphy | Screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBTQ activist | ||
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin | Parents of Trayvon Martin | ||
2019 | Nancy Pelosi | Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | [20] |
Ava DuVernay | Filmmaker, director, and film distributor | [21] | |
Tarana Burke | Activist and founder of the Me Too movement | [22] | |
Margaret Atwood | poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist | [23] |
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies (1985) and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number-one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. In 1989, she had a hit with "I Drove All Night".
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song made famous by Cyndi Lauper four years after it was written by Robert Hazard. It was the first major single released by Lauper as a solo artist and the lead single from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). Lauper's version gained recognition as a feminist anthem and was promoted by a Grammy-winning music video. It has been covered, either as a studio recording or in a live performance, by over 30 other artists.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGBTQ individuals, most notably advocating for same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation, and HIV/AIDS advocacy. The organization has a number of legislative initiatives as well as supporting resources for LGBTQ individuals. The organization is attached to a number of scandals regarding its treatment of women and transgender humans.
Carson Kressley is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He was also the motivational host of the TV show How to Look Good Naked and OWN's Carson Nation and a contestant on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars.
"Time After Time" is a 1983 song by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, co-written with Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals. It was the second single released from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). The track was produced by Rick Chertoff and released as a single on January 27, 1984. The song became Lauper's first number 1 hit in the U.S. The song was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide magazine, referring to the science fiction film Time After Time (1979).
"Who Let in the Rain" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper, from her fourth studio album, Hat Full of Stars (1993). Released as the lead single from the album on June 22, 1993, it is a ballad about the end of a relationship that proved popular among Lauper's fans. Outside the United States, it was a modest hit peaking in the top 40 in the UK and New Zealand. In the US, the song failed to make the Hot 100 and reached only as high as number 33 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.
"Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
VH1 Latin America was a music channel from ViacomCBS-owned ViacomCBS Networks Americas. The network was launched on April 1, 2004 exclusively on Cablevisión D.F. in Mexico, and in the rest of the region some months later. The channel targeted audience from 19 to 44 years old and played local and international music videos from the 1970s to the 2000s. It also aired famous countdowns from VH1 United States. It reached most of the satellite and cable systems in Latin America. VH1 Soul, another channel of MTV Networks and sister channel of VH1 was also available in the region.
True Colors was an annual music event created by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. The concerts were headlined by Lauper and featured various music and comedy acts. Beginning in 2007, the trek supported the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Other local and private LGBT charities and foundations were supported as the event grew. The tour began with 16 shows in 2007 expanding to 25 shows in 2008. Lauper's set during the 2008 tour was basically the North American leg of her worldwide Bring Ya to the Brink Tour that year. An outing in 2009 was planned and later cancelled. In lieu of the tour, Lauper partnered with Broadway Impact to create the True Colors Cabaret. The show began September 28, 2009 and ran once a month at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. It featured performances from Lauper, Rufus Wainwright, Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, Karen Olivo, Melinda Doolittle and Broadway Inspirational Voices. The shows ran until February 2010.
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist living in exile in Canada. He is the founder and head of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees.
Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and author. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films including Scooby-Doo! film series (2009–2010), Lemonade Mouth (2011), Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Jem and the Holograms (2015), Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), and XOXO (2016). Alongside her film roles, she also held a recurring role in the TV series The Fosters (2014) and a lead role on CSI: Cyber (2015–2016) and Five Points (2018–2019).
Memphis Blues is the eleventh studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, containing cover versions of classic blues songs. Regarded as a continuation of her 2008 comeback, the album was a nominee for the Grammy Awards 2010 and was released on her 57th birthday, June 22, 2010. According to the Brazilian daily newspaper O Globo, the album had sold 600,000 copies worldwide by November 2010. Memphis Blues was voted the 7th best album of 2010 by the New York Post, and it went on to become Billboard's biggest selling blues album of 2010. To support the album, Lauper made her biggest tour ever, the Memphis Blues Tour, which had more than 140 shows.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+(LGBTQ+)music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.
True Colors United is an American nonprofit organization addressing the issue of youth homelessness in the United States. Founded in 2008 by Cyndi Lauper, the organization focuses on the unique experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, who make up 40% of the homeless youth population in America.
Billboard Women in Music is an annual event held by Billboard. Its main award is titled Woman of the Year, established to recognize "women in the music industry who have made significant contributions to the business and who, through their work and continued success, inspire generations of women to take on increasing responsibilities within the field", according to the magazine. Taylor Swift is the most awarded woman of the event, with three awards . Women in music include women as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, music critics/music journalists, and in other musical professions. A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as pop, rock, or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be mainly used for individuals from the classical music genre.
Tarana Burke is an American activist from New York City, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade later, in 2017, #MeToo became a viral hashtag when Alyssa Milano and other women began using it to tweet about the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases. The phrase and hashtag quickly developed into a broad-based, and eventually international movement.
Giovanni Lucca Palandrani, better known by his stage name Aquaria, is an American drag queen, television personality, and recording artist best known for winning the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2018.
Marsha Aizumi is an American author, educator, and LGBTQ+ activist. She co-founded the first PFLAG chapter for Asian-Pacific Islanders.
Sheila Lopez is an American electrical engineer and LGBT rights advocate. She cofounded and serves as president of the Native American PFLAG chapter in Phoenix, Arizona.