Janelle Monáe set to receive Trailblazer Award for LGBTQ+ Advocacy

Pansexual rapper and singer Janelle Monáe will be honored at the Outfest Legacy Awards for her staunch support of the LGBTQ+ community, according to reports from Variety. The 40th anniversary of the event will take place on October 22, formally recognizing Monáe's longstanding advocacy for queer rights.

The actress, whose latest role will be in the highly anticipated Netflix sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, revealed they were pansexual during an interview with Rolling Stone in 2018. Talking about how her newest album Dirty Computer was written in dedication to the LGBTQ+ community, she also found herself on a journey of self-discovery: “I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too’. I’m open to learning more about who I am.” The Grammy nominated rapper also posted on Instagram the same year, celebrating pride in her identity.

Since then, Monáe has also come out as non-binary, speaking to Jaida Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris on their Red Table Talk show. Discussing how she has pushed gender boundaries throughout their career, the singer found that the term increasingly resonated with her until she was happy to use it to identify with. “I’m non-binary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she.” Monáe went on to insist that their non-binary identity does not change their advocacy and allegiance with women’s rights and femininity, stating “I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am. Beyond the binary.”

Janelle Monáe will join the likes of Laverne Cox, Billy Porter, Tom Hanks, Octavia Spencer, Rita Moreno, Elliot Page, Laverne Cox, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and many more in receiving the Trailblazer Award, as she continues to use her voice as a prominent supporter and role model for LGBTQ+ progression. Executive director of Outfest Legacy Awards Damien S. Navarro welcomes the newest advocates and the celebration surrounding them, stating: “We invite the world to join us in lifting up our awardees who have collectively inspired a new generation of creators, storytellers, and audiences - carving a path for tomorrow’s artists.”

The Make Me Feel singer was recently honored by the Trevor Project for her vocal role in tackling suicide in young LGBTQ+ people, with the 2022 Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award. Read more about that here.

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