International Icon Michelle Visage is to Receive Straight Ally Accolade at LGBTI Awards Bash.
Ru Paul’s Drag Race royalty Michelle Visage will touch down in Glasgow and be awarded the special Straight Ally Award at The Icon Awards Gala Final.
The Icon Awards, taking place at Glasgow’s prestigious Crowne Plaza Hotel this October 9th will pay homage to the Los Angeles based star for her continuous support for the LGBTI community, notably through her role on Ru Pauls Drag Race, and more recently Celebrity Big Brother.
Event manager and organiser Michael Macfarlane believes she is the “perfect choice” and is “excited to welcome Michelle to Glasgow”.
He added “Michelle has long been a defender of gay rights, especially within the drag and transgender communities across the world, and is a role model to many globally. We believe her role has not only helped, but empowered so many people here in Scotland, and the rest of the UK, she is a modern day ‘gay icon” and we can’t wait to welcome her back to Glasgow”.
The Straight Ally gong will be an annual award, given to a recipient that embodies diversity and inclusion, and has been a back bone for LGBTI identifying people across the globe.
Michelle, who currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children is “delighted” to be given to prize and can’t wait to return to Scotland for the final in October.
She added “I am truly honoured that The Icon Awards have chosen to award me as their first ally winner, and I am truly excited to be coming to Glasgow for the final. The LGBTI community have been loyal to me since I started in this business in 1989 and have never left my side. I have so much love, respect, compassion and admiration for you all, across the globe. I will continue to not only support, but champion LGBTI rights across the world, in the hopes that one day gay hate crimes and having to fight for equal rights is a thing of the past. We have come a long way, but have so much further to go and together we will succeed. This award means the world to me, and I can’t wait to share this special night with you all, see you on October 9th”.
Michelle will collect her “Straight Ally” gong at the awards bash, hosted by comedian Bruce Devlin and will see performances from the likes of GAMTA and Barbara Bryceland. Michelle will also put her judge’s hat on for the evening to help organisers decide on the winner of the hotly anticipated “Entertainer of the Year” category, which will see the top three invited to perform on the night. Other special guests are still to be announced, including the winner of the prestigious “Icon Award”
The Icon Awards will see a further 16 awards handed out in categories ranging from “Politician of the Year”, to “Wedding Venue of the Year”. Voting and nominations are currently open at www.icon-awards.co.uk, and will remain open until September 11th, after which the committee will meet to decide the shortlist and eventual winners to be announced on October 9th. Tickets for the event are on sale, with select meet and greet packages available, for more information contact the Icon Awards team on 0141 774 5272.