As GLAAD’s Vanguard Award is presented each year to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community, it normally goes to someone whose been supporting gay rights for years. However this year’s gong has gone to the youngest honoree ever, 19-year-old Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson.
While some will argues that the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is just jumping on the Hunger Games bandwagon, there’s little doubt that Hutcherson has done work to help gay youth that would put most actors to shame.
Along with close friend, actor Avan Jogia, he’s a cofounder of the Straight But Not Narrow campaign, which supports gay youth and their straight allies, and he recently starred in a PSA promoting the importance of gay-straight alliances in US schools. He’s previously told SamaritanMag.com, “We just launched [SBNN], and it’s a very exciting time for us and it hits close to home for me. I have a lot of gay friends in Los Angeles. My roommate’s gay and I lost two uncles when I was young to AIDS, so it’s an important cause in my family.” Of course he also starred as one of the children of lesbian mothers in The Kids Are All Alright.
“As the youngest person to ever receive the Vanguard Award, Josh Hutcherson represents a new generation of equality advocates who know that no one should be denied vital legal protections or face discrimination because of who they are,” GLAAD’s Mike Thompson said in a statement. “Through his work in trailblazing films like The Kids Are All Right, as well as his leadership in projects like the Straight But Not Narrow campaign, Josh is helping countless Americans understand the importance of equality.”
The ceremony for the 23rd annual GLAAD Media Awards will be held in Los Angeles April 21.
And just for your more prurient interests, click here for some pictures of Josh Hutcherson looking hot.
along with close friend, actor Avan Jogia, a cofounder of the Straight But Not Narrow campaign. “We just launched [SBNN], and it’s a very exciting time for us and it hits close to home for me,” Hutcherson said in an earlier interview with SamaritanMag.com. “I have a lot of gay friends in Los Angeles. My roommate’s gay and I lost two uncles when I was young to AIDS, so it’s an important cause in my family.”
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