Madonna Will Receive GLAAD's Advocate For Change Award

The pop superstar and gay icon will be honored by GLAAD for a lifetime of LGBTQ advocacy…
 
GLAAD will award Madonna with its Advocate for Change Award at the upcoming 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Madonna is only the second person, and the first woman, to receive the award after former president Bill Clinton, who received the award from the LGBTQ media advocacy organization in 2013.
 
“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 statement. “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.”
 
GLAAD cited Madonna’s numerous AIDS benefits concerts and action to raise awareness around the AIDS epidemic throughout her career as just a few of the reasons for bestowing her the honor. The 1991 documentary Truth or Dare also showed Madonna accepting her mostly gay dance crew to live authentically and, as GLAAD points out, Madonna encouraged Ellen DeGeneres to come out in 1997.
 
GLAAD’s 30th awards ceremony also coincides with an important 30th anniversary for Madonna. This year is the 30th anniversary of her iconic album Like a Prayer, which included hit singles like “Like a Prayer,” “Express Yourself,” and “Cherish.” An interesting side note: When the album was released, Madonna included an educational pamphlet on HIV/AIDS with each copy of the album.
 
Madonna will be presented with the Advocate for Change Award on May 4 in New York. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremony honors media for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues.