If anyone deserves this huge honor, it's Demi Lovato. On Thursday, it was announced that Demi Lovato would receive the Vanguard Award at the 2016 GLAAD Media Awards, which honors someone in media who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Previous winners include, Scandal 's Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore, and Janet Jackson. Clearly, the 23-year-old singer/actress joins quite the list of people who are amazing advocates for the LGBT community.
For the first time, the GLAAD Media Awards will be televised. They will air on Logo in a one-hour special premiering Monday, April 4 at 10 p.m., which means you'll get to see Lovato's acceptance of the Vanguard Award. It's really no surprise that GLAAD chose the "Confident" singer, because on more than one occasion she has gone above and beyond for the LGBT community.
In June 2014, Lovato opened up about her gay grandfather, who came out in the '60s. "I've never spoken about this before, but my grandfather was a trailblazer himself," she said on Logo's Trailblazers, a special that honored LGBT civil rights pioneers. "He was brave enough to come out in the 1960s, and I feel a lot of my spirit has come from him." She added, "He passed away a few years later, and I only wish he could have seen all the progress that has been made. It's such an honor to be welcomed and embraced by the LGBT community."
She's also participated in several gay pride events. For example, in 2014, she performed at LGBT Pride events in both Los Angeles and New York for June's Pride month. In L.A., she acted as the L.A. Pride Parade's Grand Marshal, where she also performed and shot her music video for "Really Don't Care," which is shared above.
"It’s such an honor to be a part of both L.A. and NYC Pride celebrations this year," she shared in a statement to Billboard at the time of announcement. "I have been an active advocate of the LGBT community and am wholly committed to supporting individuality and being comfortable in one’s own skin. I am thrilled to be a part of both events as they are a wonderful celebration of independence and self-confidence."
While appearing on FOX's fifth season of Glee, Lovato played a lesbian named Dani, who was a love interest for Naya Rivera's Santana. It was important for her to impact others via the small screen, especially when portraying a gay character. During an interview with Ryan Seacrest in September 2013, she spoke about starring on Glee:
I don’t want people to take from this, "Oh my god, Demi is kissing a girl." I want people to take from it this is actually an incredible step in our generation today where I’m able to play a young lesbian on primetime TV … I’m honored to be able to be hopefully inspiring people with my character to be who they are and not be afraid of it or ashamed.
Congrats to Lovato on the recognition she truly deserves.
