Six Celebrities That Advocate for the LGBTQ+ Community
LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (or questioning) and others. It is a community that throughout history has been looked down upon, for no reason whatsoever, but thankfully this is now changing for the better. The community is ever-growing and so is the support.
Celebrities are a huge part of this movement and many of them are advocates for this particular community. Having celebrities as advocates is a brilliant way to promote acceptance, positivity and kindness. Some celebrities identify as a member of this community but others don’t, they’re just showing that they are hugely accepting.
LGBTQ+ activists have been needed throughout the decades or the rights movement would not be where it is today, Global Citizen truthfully states. Without activists and celebrities, people’s voices don’t get heard or they get hushed. It is incredibly important there are people in the public eye who bring awareness to these issues.
1. Prince William
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Having a Royal as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community is incredible and Prince William seems to be taking on this role from his mother, Princess Diana.
In 2017, the Duke of Cambridge was named Straight Ally of the Year at the British LGBT Awards after he’d made history by being the first Royal to appear on the cover of Attitude magazine in 2016. In the magazine, he talked of how “no one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason and no one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured in their lives”.
2. Miley Cyrus
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Miley Cyrus has a strong LGBTQ+ following and is continuously aware of this fact. Miley is very vocal about her own sexuality and came out as pansexual in 2015.
That same year, Miley also founded the nonprofit Happy Hippie Foundation which is committed to empowering the LGBTQ+ youth and also aids with homelessness.
In 2011, Miley spoke out about her feelings towards the community after getting a tattoo supporting same-sex marriage: “I believe every American should be allowed the same rights and civil liberties. Without legalized same-sex marriage, most of the time you cannot share the same health benefits, you are not considered next of kin and you are not granted the same securities as a heterosexual couple. How is this different than having someone sit in the back of the bus because of their skin colour?”
3. Daniel Radcliffe
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Daniel Radcliffe, most notably known for his titular role in the Harry Potter franchise as The Chosen One, has stood up for the LGBTQ+ community on countless occasions. He has won a few awards because of his acceptance towards the community, including one from The Trevor Project.
In 2015, he was named as Celebrity Straight Ally at the British LGBT Awards and said of the award: “It's sad that an award for this needs to exist. It is odd and bizarre that I am essentially getting an award for displaying basic human decency in a sort of high-profile way. I feel like a wonderful thing about our future will be that there will be nothing remarkable a straight actor saying that he supports gay rights.”
4. Lady Gaga
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Like Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga has always had a strong LGBTQ+ following since the beginning of her career and has expressed her accepting views on stage numerous times. In an interview with Out magazine, in 2009, she even thanked the community for her career: “When I started in the mainstream it was the gays that lifted me up. I committed myself to them and they committed themselves to me, and because of the gay community I'm where I am today.”
She launched her own non-profit anti-bullying foundation in 2012 known as the Born This Way Foundation. This, of course, links to her hit single ‘Born This Way’ that includes empowering and inspirational lyrics, nodding towards the LGBTQ+ community.
In the same interview with Out, she said that she wanted to “inject gay culture into the mainstream”.
5. Sam Smith
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Sam Smith came out as gay in 2014 then came out as non-binary in 2019 and changed their pronouns to they/them. They have since won several LGBTQ+ awards, including the Person Of The Year Award 2019 at the LGBT Attitude Awards, after rightly advocating for what they believe in.
After coming out in 2019, they told Jameela Jamil: “When I saw the words ‘non-binary’ and ‘gender-queer’ and I read into it and I heard these people speaking, I thought f*ck — that is me.” They then went on to say, “Non-binary genderqueer is that you do not identify in a gender. You are a mixture of different things, you are your own special creation. I'm not male or female.”
6. Anne Hathaway
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Anne Hathaway, who has a gay brother, is an advocate for the It Gets Better Project and The Trevor Project, she has done several inspirational speeches speaking up for the LGBTQ+ community.
She won the Human Rights Campaign Ally Award in 2008 and said of her win: “There are people who have said that I'm being brave for being openly supportive of gay marriage, gay adoption — basically of gay rights — but with all due respect, I humbly dissent. I'm not being brave; I'm being a decent human being. And I don't think I should receive an award for that or for merely stating what I believe to be true: that love is a human experience, not a political statement.”
It is so incredibly important that celebrities continue speaking out for communities such as the LGBTQ+. It raises so much awareness around the subject and also increases acceptance, both outcomes are brilliant. Is your favourite celebrity also an advocate for this amazing community? If so, let us know who in the comments below!