Madonna to receive major LGBTQ honor at 2019 GLAAD Media Awards
Madonna is getting into the groove of another major accolade.
GLAAD — the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer media advocacy organization — announced Tuesday the pop icon will receive the Advocate for Change Award at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards ceremony for a lifetime of accelerating LGBTQ acceptance in popular culture and beyond.
A GLAAD press release cites the 60-year-old musician’s commitment to raising awareness about the HIV/AIDS crisis — particularly the inclusion of a “Facts about AIDS” leaflet inside her 1989 album Like a Prayer — in the 1980s, with the artist having performed at AIDS benefit concerts, established a benefit dance marathon, and demanding action at a time when politicians and cultural figures rarely mentioned the epidemic in the media. The group also singles out Madonna’s willingness to speak out against anti-LGBTQ policies and practices around the world, particularly in the United State, Romania, Malawi, and Russia.
“Madonna always has and always will be the LGBTQ community’s greatest ally and it is only fitting to honor and celebrate our biggest advocate at GLAAD’s biggest event ever,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a press statement, which also highlights Madonna’s inclusion of queer dancers in her hit documentary Truth or Dare and protesting the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on LGBTQ people by wearing a boy scout uniform to the 2013 GLAAD Media Awards as important highlights in her fight for LGBTQ equality. “From the HIV crisis to international LGBTQ issues, she fearlessly pushes for a world where LGBTQ people are accepted. Her music and art have been life-saving outlets for LGBTQ people over the years and her affirming words and actions have changed countless hearts and minds.”
Since releasing her most recent album, 2015’s Rebel Heart, Madonna has toured the globe, performed an intimate, clown-themed show at Miami’s Art Basel in 2016, premiered a new song at the 2018 Met Gala, expanded her MDNA skincare line worldwide, and landed a feature directing gig at the helm of Taking Flight, a biographical drama based on the life of Sierra Leonean ballerina Michaela DePrince.
Madonna is currently working on her upcoming 14th studio album, reportedly set for release later this year.
Madonna will accept the Advocate for Change Award at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards ceremony on May 4 in New York City. See the full list of nominees — including EW’s nomination for Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage — here.
