American Idol alum Adam Lambert will be honored at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards at the San Francisco ceremony May 11, the media advocacy organization said Thursday.
The Grammy-nominated artist will receive the Davidson/Valentini Award at the Hilton San Francisco – Union Square, presented locally by Southwest Airlines. The Davidson/Valentini Award is named after Craig Davidson, GLAAD’s first executive director, and his partner Michael Valentini. The awards are presented nationally by Ketel One Vodka and Wells Fargo.
“Adam Lambert’s continued success as one of the world’s best-selling pop stars shows LGBT people that they can be themselves and make it in a mainstream industry that many feel unfairly rejects them,” GLAAD’s Wilson Cruz says in a statement. “Adam is fearless on stage and astonishes audiences in every country he performs in.”
The award is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBT community. Previous Davidson/Valentini honorees include Lee Daniels, Chad Allen, Ilene Chaiken, Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, Alec Mapa, B.D. Wong and Sandra Bernhard.
The 31-year-old singer is a two-time GLAAD Media Award nominee, garnering nominations for both of his albums. He performed two of his songs during the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles in 2010.
In other Lambert news, the singer will headline Pittsburgh’s Pride in the Street festival June 15, where he is scheduled to perform a 90-minute set complete with a full band and dancers. Last year’s headliner, Melissa Etheridge, drew a record crowd of 6,800 to the event.