Christina Aguilera to receive HRC Ally for Equality Award
Singer/songwriter Christina Aguilera will receive the HRC Ally for Equality Award on March 30. (Lisa O’Connor/AFP/Getty)
Pop superstar Christina Aguilera is to receive a prize for being an ally to the LGBT+ community.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBT civil rights advocacy group in the United States, announced on Friday (March 8) it will hand out Aguilera the HRC Ally for Equality Award at a benefit dinner in Los Angeles on March 30.
“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 in a statement explaining the decision.
“It’s about damn time! Should’ve been had this a long time ago!!!”
— A LGBT fan of Christina Aguilera
He added: “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 decision was praised by fans, some of whom actually thought the award was long overdue.
“It’s about damn time! Should’ve been had this a long time ago!!!” one person wrote on Facebook. That feeling was echoed in another comment, which read: “It was about damn time!!! She’s done sooo much for the community.”
Christina Aguilera has long been an ally to the LGBT+ community
The “Fall in Line” singer has helped to raise donations to fund the fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as speaking out against anti-LGBT bullying and advocating for same-sex marriage.
In September, Aguilera helped a gay couple get engaged on stage during one of her concerts. In 2017, she penned an emotional letter to the LGBT+ community, published in Billboard in occasion of Pride month, thanking LGBT+ fans for being “My fighters, my heroes, the reason I love what I do.”
She has also previous collaborated with British LGBT+ rights group Stonewall for their 2010 campaign It Gets Better… Today.
LGBT+ ally Christina Aguilera seats next to gay singer Troye Sivan at a fashion show. (Mike Coppola/Getty)
The “Fighter” singer encouraged LGBT+ people to keep being themselves: “For anyone who feels like an outsider, I want to say: Don’t let the bullies win. Be yourself – and don’t let words get you down. It gets better today. With your help, Stonewall can make it happen.”
And of course, Aguilera’s 2002 song “Beautiful” became an anthem to self-acceptance in the face of adversities. Its video featured various people who had to face self-doubt, bullying and prejudice and included a gay couple and a transgender woman.
The song, which was written and produced by legendary songwriter and producer Linda Perry, who is a lesbian, was voted the most empowering song of the decade in a 2011 Stonewall poll. it beat “Better” by Boyzone and “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga into second and third place respectively.
