New York, Friday, April 25, 2014 — GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) media advocacy organization, today announced that two-time Grammy Award-winning country music artist Kacey Musgraves will perform at the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York on May 3 at the Waldorf Astoria New York. Musgraves, the first country music artist to play at the New York GLAAD Media Awards, will perform her groundbreaking hit song "Follow Your Arrow." Openly gay country music artist Chely Wright will introduce Musgraves.
GLAAD previously announced that global superstar Kylie Minogue will also be performing at the New York event. For more information visit glaad.org/mediaawards or follow #glaadawards
The 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented nationally by Ketel One Vodka, Wells Fargo, and Hilton Worldwide. The New York event is presented locally by Delta Air Lines and Bud Light.
"America's heartland is changing and support for equality continues to grow across party lines, in our faith institutions, and in country music," said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "Kacey Musgraves is ushering in a new era in the country music industry, where supporting all loving families is now a core country value. It's only fitting then that Kacey is to become the first country music artist to perform at the New York GLAAD Media Awards."
Musgraves broke barriers in the country music industry with the 2013 release of "Follow Your Arrow," her chart topping hit that proclaims, "kiss lots of boys / or kiss lots of girls / if that's something you're into" and encourages country music fans to "love who you love."
"I think it's definitely time for [gay] issues to be accepted in country music - I mean it's 2013," Musgraves told Radio.com last year. "Regardless of your political beliefs, everybody should be able to love who they want to love and live how they want to live."
Also in 2013, Musgraves spoke out in support of LGBT youth and took a stand against bullying as a GLAAD Spirit Day Ambassador. Spirit Day is the largest, most visible anti-bullying campaign in the nation.
Additional special guests for the New York event include: Laverne Cox, Laura Prepon, Danielle Brooks, Samira Wiley ( Orange is the New Black ); Robin Weigert, Stacie Passon ( Concussion ); Candis Cayne ( Elementary ); Dennis Starr, Joan Koplan, Irwin Koplan, Christa Stephens ( Small Town Security ); GLAAD National Spokespersons, Wilson Cruz and Omar Sharif, Jr., and GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis. Additional presenters and LGBT advocates will be announced.
In January, GLAAD announced 93 nominees in 20 English-language categories, and 37 Spanish-language nominees in nine categories. Nominees for the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards can be found here: glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees. The GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles took place on April 12, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton. For video, photos, and more, visit:glaad.org/mediaawards/recap
To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use the hashtag #glaadawards.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. They also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBT community that build support for equality. Each year, the GLAAD Media Awards in New York and Los Angeles bring together more than 3,000 advocates and allies to raise critical funds for the organization's work.
More than 100 corporate partners are showing their support, including National Presenting partners Ketel One Vodka, Wells Fargo and Hilton Worldwide; and New York and Los Angeles Presenting partners Delta Air Lines and Bud Light. GLAAD is also grateful to the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Platinum Underwriter partners Sheppard Mullin and the Terry K. Watanabe Charitable Trust, Underwriter partners A&E Lifetime, Allstate Insurance Company, AT&T, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Comcast/NBC Universal, Prudential and PwC. Titanium Partners ABC-Disney Television Group, Caesars Foundation, Fox Broadcasting Company and Time Warner. Gold partners 1800 Flowers, CBS/Showtime, ESPN, HBO, McGraw Hill Financial, NBA, Skadden, Univision, the Wasserman Foundation, and WWE, and Silver partners Citi, MLB, NFL and Viacom/TV Land. For a full list of corporate partners and information on how to become a corporate partner, purchase tickets, and place a tribute in the tribute book, please visit glaad.org/mediaawards .
