Janelle Monáe Honored as LGBTQ+ Trailblazer at Outfest Legacy Awards

Janelle Monáe is a pressure to be reckoned with, even past the leisure sphere. In recognition of the non-binary musician’s continued philanthropy and highly effective messaging of being your genuine self, Monáe acquired the Trailblazer Award on the fortieth annual Outfest Legacy Awards.

“I really feel like I’m at my church tonight,” Monáe instructed the viewers in her acceptance speech, taking the stage in an all-leather outfit with a tipped black hat. “I really feel like I’m in church and I’m with those who really feel me and see me and perceive me… I’m simply deeply humbled and simply so grateful and at a loss for actual phrases to match my emotions. So simply settle for my thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Outfest is an annual celebration catered to the LGBTQ neighborhood within the movie and tv trade, which options dwell performances from musical friends, particular appearances from esteemed creators and recognition for influential changemakers in Hollywood.

Simultaneous to pursuing a music profession, Monáe is about to star in Netflix’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Thriller,” the sequel to 2019’s “Knives Out” from director Rian Johnson. Johnson welcomed Monáe on stage to just accept the award on the Oct. 22 ceremony, prefacing with sort phrases concerning the recording artist’s exceptional accomplishments.

“It’s not stunning to me that she’s getting this award, as a result of you realize, if I open up the dictionary in my mind and search for the phrase ‘trailblazer,’ it’s similar to an entire single-page unfold of Janelle’s face,” Johnson stated. “She’s a beacon of dwelling free and out loud and what that appears like and he or she desires that for different folks too. She walks the stroll.”

Introduced by IMDb and Genesis, the occasion occurred at Paramount Studios.

Glamazon, a volunteer-based community of numerous Amazon workers and allies, was additionally awarded the Guardian Award, and Outfest’s deputy director, Kerri Stoughton-Jackson, was honored with the Jonathan Howard Award.

“Visibility is essential for the subsequent era to see; like, ‘I’ve neighborhood, I’ve folks placing in actual effort to guarantee that I’m seen, that I’m heard, that I’m current,’” Monáe mirrored on the carpet, talking to the activism of the night time’s honorees and Outfest as a company. “I believe that we clearly have numerous work to proceed to do, however the work they’ve executed during the last 40 years, that’s a giant deal.”