Taylor Swift and Janet Mock will be the honorees at the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards, to be held April 16th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Swift will be presented with GLAAD’s Vanguard Award, presented to allies who have made a significant difference in advocating for the rights of LGBTQ people. Mock will be awarded the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, named after casting director Stephen F. Kolzak and presented to an LGBTQ media professional who has paved ways for LGBTQ acceptance in the media.
Mock is known for her best-selling memoirs as well as her work on Ryan Murphy’s Emmy-winning FX series Pose; she’s the first trans woman of color to write and direct an episode of television. (Pose received the Outstanding Drama Series award at last year’s ceremony.) She recently signed a three-year deal with Netflix.
Last year, Swift released the single “You Need to Calm Down,” which touched on LGBTQ rights, with a music video that featured queer and trans celebrities like Laverne Cox, Billy Porter, Rupaul, Ellen Degeneres, the Queer Eye cast, Hayley Kiyoko and Adam Rippon. (The song also features the lyric, “Why be mad when you can be GLAAD?”)
During last year’s Pride Month, Swift penned an open letter to Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, urging him to support the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in employment, housing and more. She’s also supported the Nashville-based Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), working to defeat six anti-LGBTQ bills in the state and raise awareness of Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn’s history of LGBTQ discrimination during her reelection campaign.
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Last year, Beyoncé and Jay-Z received the Vanguard Award, while the Stephen F. Kolzak Award went to Will & Grace actor Sean Hayes.
The GLAAD Media Award nominees will be announced on January 8th.