Logo has announced that it will be honoring stage and screen legend Harvey Fierstein and seminal LGBT news outlet “The Advocate” for their third annual “Trailblazer Honors” event. The television special celebrates pioneers at the forefront of LGBT equality and recognizes their achievements and work they’ve done to help their community.
“In prep for this lovely honor, Logo sent me a bio they’d put together of my accomplishments. YIKES! It looks like I’ve done a lot but, truthfully, none of it was done alone,” said Fierstein in a statement. “There’s been an unseen army of contemporaries and pioneers who’ve come before me that has made everything I’ve achieved possible. I hope, by accepting this honor from Logo, that I am helping to celebrate our entire community of LGBT warriors.”
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The event will be take place on Saturday, June 25 at 8PM ET/PT and for the first time, VH1 and Logo will simulcast the largest LGBT Pride event ever to be televised. The ceremony is an official event of NYC Pride Week and will take place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of the first religious institutions in the city to support the causes of LGBT people.
The one-hour special will include special appearances by Judith Light, Matthew Broderick, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Edie Falco, Joel Grey, Matthew Morrison, Michael Musto and Tony Kushner, who will share personal stories of working with Fierstein over the years. Speaking on behalf of “The Advocate” will be Troye Sivan, Cheyenne Jackson, Tegan & Sara, Jason Collins, Alex Newell, and former Editors-In-Chief.
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Fierstein has been a powerful LGBT advocate who has constantly broken down barriers with his characters and stories on and off the screen. The actor wrote and starred in “Torch Song Trilogy” in 1982 and won his first two of four Tony Awards. The play’s film adaptation also became one of the first movies to feature an openly gay lead character played by an openly gay actor. He has constantly spoken out about marriage equality and has been a vocal critic of anti-LGBT laws in Russia. He’s had a successful acting career performing in “Kinky Boots,” “La Cage aux Folles” and films such as “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Independence Day. He will next be seen reprising his iconic role of Edna Turnblad in NBC’s upcoming television special “Hairspray Live!”
“The Advocate” was created in 1967 after America’s first known riot in protest of LGBT harassment at the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles. For many decades the publication has devoted itself to report on issues from a LGBT perspective and is a forum for others to speak out about what is important to them.
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