Cynthia Erivo to Perform at 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, Honoring Patricia Arquette

GLAAD, the world's LGBTQ media advocacy organization, announced today it will honor Academy Award-winning actress and activist Patricia Arquette at the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on April 1, 2017.

Out comedIan Cameron Esposito, star of Seeso's "Take My Wife," will host the event. Jussie Smollett will lead a special tribute to victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting that will include a performance by Cynthia Erivo. Special guests include Matthew Daddario, Josh Hutcherson, Victoria Justice, Trace Lysette, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Tatiana Maslany, and Harry Shum Jr.

The 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Delta Air Lines, Hilton, Ketel One Vodka, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Wells Fargo. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBTQ community and issues that build support for equality and acceptance.

Arquette will receive GLAAD's Vanguard Award, which is presented to media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting equality and acceptance of LGBTQ people. Previous Vanguard Award honorees include Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Antonio Banderas, Drew Barrymore, Janet Jackson, and Sharon Stone.

Patricia Arquette is an Academy-Award winning actor, activist, and longtime ally to the LGBTQ community. She has consistently used her platform to voice support of the LGBTQ community and issues such as marriage equality and transgender equality. An outspoken advocate for her late transgender sister, Arquette most recently spoke out against the Academy Awards' glaring omission of Alexis Arquette from this year's In Memoriam tribute. In addition, she has appeared in LGBTQ-inclusive projects such as Flirting with Disaster, which received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Film - Wide Release in 1996.

Arquette is also a fervent advocate for numerous social and environmental justice issues. Arquette spoke out against the Dakota Access Pipeline, standing in solidarity with the Indigenous groups leading the movement. She is equal pay advocate for transgender women and has played a key role in passing several pieces of equal pay legislation as part of her role as a UN gender pay champion. Arquette also founded the charity GiveLove, which has now helped bring sustainable compost sanitation solutions to seven nations.

"Patricia Arquette embodies the critical voice needed during these times to resist against injustice and discrimination across a range of issues," said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "She is a beacon of light who has consistently used her platform to advance equality across marginalized groups and to drive culture-changing conversations that move acceptance forward."

Additional special guests and honorees for the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles will be announced.

In January, GLAAD announced 115 nominees in 21 English-language categories and 41 Spanish-language nominees in 11 categories. Nominees for the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards can be found here: www.glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees.

To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use the hashtag #glaadawards. The New York GLAAD Media Awards ceremony will take place May 6 at the New York Hilton Midtown.