British Olympic diver Tom Daley would be the recipient of the inaugural George Takei Advocate Award.
Takei, who has been a vocal advocate for the development of LGBTQ-plus rights since popping out as homosexual in 2005, is the inspiration for the award to be given to Daley on the Fiftieth-anniversary gala of PFLAG (previously Mother and father, Households, and Pals of Lesbians and Gays) in New York on March 3.
PLAG payments itself because the “first and largest group devoted to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ folks and their households.”
In accordance with the group, the George Takei Advocate Award “honors an individual who makes use of their visibility to assist advance PFLAG’s work to create a caring, simply, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ folks and people who love them.”
In 2018, Takei was awarded PFLAG’s Betty DeGeneres Advocate Award, named after Ellen DeGeneres’ mom, for his advocacy.
In a message, Takei expressed his delight and help for Daley being the primary recipient of the award named after him.
I first met Tom in 2019 in New York. This was earlier than he competed for and gained his Olympic Gold Medal, earlier than he was named to the Most Wonderful Order of the British Empire and earlier than his highly effective BBC documentary “Unlawful to Be Me,” however after he had turn into a father or mother. It was clear then that Tom knew his position would endlessly be to make this world a greater, extra affirming place for LGBTQ+ folks and households. I’m honored to lend my identify to an award from PFLAG Nationwide that acknowledges the braveness to advocate for LGBTQ+ folks, and I’m proud that Tom Daley would be the first to obtain it.
A PFLAG consultant instructed HuffPost that the award acknowledges public figures who use their platform to “create a caring, simply, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ folks and people who love them.”
Daley described being the primary to obtain the award as “an enormous milestone.”
“Being your self within the highlight isn’t straightforward,” the 28-year-old athlete was quoted as saying. “Leaders like George Takei and PFLAG have paved the best way and given LGBTQ+ folks the instruments and sources to advocate for ourselves and for our neighborhood.”
Daley, who first publicly revealed his sexual identification through YouTube in 2013, gained gold on the males’s synchronized 10-meter platform on the 2020 Tokyo Video games in 2021. In 2017, he married Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. The pair have a 4-year-old son, Robert Ray Black-Daley.
In an earlier interview with HuffPost, Daley shared the struggles he confronted earlier than and after popping out.
I believe it’s essential, for those who’re a visual, queer particular person, to try to assist different folks and never simply sit along with your privilege. I used to be so scared. I used to be so nervous about dropping sponsors. My dad had died a few years earlier than that, and I needed to nonetheless be capable to help my household. When individuals are telling you that you simply may lose sponsors, in fact, it’s going to scare you into staying within the closet for longer than you’d wish to.
Hosted by comic Amber Ruffin, the occasion could have appearances by actors Rose Abdoo and Tati Gabrielle, in addition to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Eureka.
Different awardees embrace rapper Huge Freedia, who will obtain the Breaking Obstacles Award, and meals firm Mondelēz Worldwide, which will likely be introduced the Straight for Equality within the Office Award
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