GLAAD To Honor ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Co-Creator and Star Dan Levy With Davidson/Valentini Award
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EXCLUSIVE: Actor, writer, director and producer Dan Levy will be honored by GLAAD with the Davidson/Valentini Award at the 2019 GLAAD Gala in San Francisco. Named after GLAAD’s first executive director Craig Davidson and his partner Michael Valentini, the award is presented to an LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting acceptance for the LGBTQ community. The event will take place September 28 at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco and will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum and Broadway star Peppermint.
Levy, who identifies as a gay man, co-created Schitt’s Creek with his father Eugene Levy. He also serves as showrunner, executive producer, writer and stars as David Rose, one of the first openly pansexual characters depicted on television. The CBC and Pop TV comedy was recently nominated for four Emmys including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress for Catherine O’Hara and Outstanding Lead Actor for Eugene Levy.
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In addition, Schitt’s Creek has been nominated and garnered for numerous awards. The series was nominated for a 2019 TCA Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and a 2019 Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Comedy Series. Levy won Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for his role on the show, as well as a Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy. Schitt’s Creek was also nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
“Through his work on-screen and behind the scenes of Schitt’s Creek, Dan Levy moves LGBTQ visibility on television forward in humorous, compelling, and necessary ways,” says Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “By featuring and celebrating a pansexual character, Dan and Schitt’s Creek are expanding representation of the spectrum of idenities within the LGBTQ community in a way that other content creators should model. Dan has been such a powerful advocate throughout his career, and continues to use his platform to uplift and inspire LGBTQ youth.”
This isn’t the first time Levy has been honored as a trailblazer in the LGBTQ community. In 2015, he was included in the OUT 100 list. In 2017, Levy called out a Globe & Mail reporter for using “offensive, irresponsible, and homophobic” language to describe him. He created an online fundraiser called “Fight For Our Future,” which helped “continue to fight for the rights of LGBTQ people everywhere.” Most recently, on Levy’s birthday, August 9, Schitt’s Creek fans raised over $20,000 for the LGBT Youth Line in Ontario, Canada, which will go towards providing resources to LGBTQ youth in rural areas and indigenous communities across the province.
Levy is in good company as a Davidson/Valentini Award honoree. Previous award recipients include Ross Mathews, Don Lemon, Lee Daniels, Adam Lambert, Hannah Hart, Sandra Bernhard, Alec Mapa, Tyler Oakley, B.D. Wong, and Ilene Chaiken, among others.
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