The Human Rights Campaign will honor Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera with the HRC Ally for Equality Award.
Aguilera has long advocated for the LGBTQ community. The singer dedicated her 2002 single “Beautiful” to the LGBTQ community and the song’s music video won a GLAAD media award for its portrayal of the LGBTQ community, according to Billboard.
The singer also spoke out against Proposition 8, a ballot to eliminate same-sex marriage in California, in 2008, saying: “Why would you put so much money behind something [aimed at] stopping people from loving each other? I just don’t understand it.” She was also the face of MAC Cosmetics’ 10th anniversary MAC AIDS Fund in 2004, raising more than $500 million to fight HIV/AIDS. In an interview promoting the campaign, she said, “[People] think that it can’t happen to them or that it only happens to a certain stereotype or gender, but it [can affect] everyone’s lives.”
In a “love letter” to the LGBTQ community Aguilera wrote for Billboard in 2017, she said, “The LGBTQ community has never had it easy, the struggles each one of you faces daily on an individual level and on a broader political and cultural level are unimaginable, yet you keep fighting, you keep moving forward trailblazing and beating all odds with love always in your hearts.”
“Christina Aguilera is a living legend and a true LGBTQ icon who consistently uses her global superstar platform to share a message of hope and inspiration to those who have been marginalized simply because of who they are,” HRC President Chad Griffin said. “Through her powerful music and her tireless efforts for positive change, she is making a real difference in the lives of countless people while bringing greater visibility to the LGBTQ community.”
The singer will receive the award at the 2019 HRC Los Angeles Dinner, where Yeardly Smith will receive the HRC National Leadership Award, on March 30, 2019. The event will bring together more than 1,000 of HRC’s most active members and supporters in the Los Angeles area to raise funds for the fight for LGBTQ equality.