*New York, NY, – Logo today announced that civil rights icon Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King, Jr., will pay tribute to the late gay civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin at the 2015 Logo “Trailblazer Honors” on Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Raven Symoné, co-host of “The View,” will join the special tribute to Rustin and introduce Martin Luther King III. The second annual “Trailblazer Honors” celebrate LGBT pioneers at the forefront of the march to equality.
Additional honorees include Iranian LGBT activist Arsham Parsi along with a group of ‘Trailblazing Parents:’ Judy & Dennis Shepard, founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, as well as Marsha Aizumi and Sheila Lopez, two PFLAG moms who stood up for their own families and in the process have inspired countless LGBT youth.
The largest televised LGBT Pride event will feature performances by Grammy award nominee Adam Lambert as well as Grammy award winning musician Jack Antonoff and his critically acclaimed band Bleachers.
In addition to Raven Symoné, presenters include Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf”), TV personality Kelly Osbourne, “Orange is the New Black’s” Samira Wiley and Lea DeLaria, Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), transgender musician Laura Jane Grace, PFLAG mom Betty DeGeneres, Violet Chachki (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Michael J Willett (“Faking It”) and Frankie Grande (“America’s Best Dance Crew”).
“Trailblazer Honors” also features special appearances from Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sir Ian McKellen, Nate Ruess, Judith Light, Billy Porter and Geena Rocero, among others. The one-hour special will be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of the first religious institutions in New York City to champion LGBT issues.
For more info: https://www.logotv.com/events/
“Bayard Rustin was a champion,” said Martin Luther King III. “Not just a champion of the LGBT community, but a champion of the civil rights movement and humanity itself. Prejudice may have scratched his name from the history books, but during the Trailblazer Honors we will come together to remember the legacy he left behind.As many fail to realize, Bayard Rustin was a vital strategist, advisor, and more than anything, a brother to my father. I am proud to stand with Logo to present this award, and beyond honored to celebrate a man as exceptionally heroic as Bayard Rustin.”
“Bayard Rustin is an American hero who deserves to be acknowledged alongside the titans of the Civil Rights Era, yet he unjustly fell victim to the same homophobia and racism that he spent his life fighting against,” said Stephen Friedman, President of MTV and Logo. “We are so proud to partner with Martin Luther King III to honor Bayard’s legacy and bring his groundbreaking life’s work to a new generation.”
Additional honorees for Logo’s “Trailblazer Honors” include:
Judy & Dennis Shepard, who began the Matthew Shepard Foundation in his honor only weeks after his 1998 murder, have worked tirelessly to tell Matthew’s story, raise awareness for anti-violence legislation and promote human dignity through education, outreach and advocacy programs.
Their incredibly long battle for national support to fight hate crimes reached a major triumph in 2009 when President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, expanding measures of protection for victims of violence targeted based on perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
PFLAG mom Sheila Lopez founded the first and only PFLAG chapter for Native Americans. After discovering PFLAG, Sheila became a leading LGBT advocate in the Southwest, offering support to her two gay children, as well as other Native American parents and LGBT youth.
PFLAG mom Marsha Aizumi is the mother of a transgender son and founded the country’s first and only PFLAG chapter for Asian-Pacific Islanders. Throughout her work she has developed safe and nurturing high school diploma programs to assist ostracized LGBT students.
Arsham Parsi began an online support group for LGBT people while living in his home country of Iran, but fled when authorities began to seek him out. In Iran, being gay or lesbian can be punished by imprisonment, corporal punishment or in some cases, execution.
Parsi was granted asylum in Canada and began an organization which has, to date, helped over 1100 LGBT Iranians apply for asylum. He tells the story of his activism and why he was forced to flee from Iran in his book Exiled for Love: The Journey of an Iranian Queer Activist.
Logo will also once again honor a Social Trailblazer. Fans can vote for nominees Connor Franta, Joey Graceffa, Jackson Bird and Gaby Dunn using designated hashtags. For more info: https://logo.to/SocialTrailblazer
source:
Mark Umbach
wordpress@www.eurweb.
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