GLAAD Awards Cancelled in New York City Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

GLAAD has canceled its awards ceremony in New York City due to Coronavirus concerns. The organization released a statement on their website about the decision and reiterated that the 31st edition of their media awards would not take place in the city. This all comes after New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his concern earlier this week. GLAAD is the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer advocacy organization and their decision reflects a number of closings across the board this week. Sports events, talk shows, concerts, and festivals have all had to adjust in light of new information.

They issued this statement when asked about the decision to cancel the awards in New York this month. “Given GLAAD’s long-standing commitment to the safety of our members, sponsors, and guests, the GLAAD Media Awards will no longer take place on March 19th in New York City. The team at GLAAD has been in communication with the City of New York and is following the latest recommendations from Governor Cuomo.”

“We were planning to unveil a historic get-out-the-vote campaign at the event because everything is at stake for LGBTQ Americans this election year, and are hopeful that the program and GLAAD’s ongoing work to fight against anti-LGBTQ discrimination will continue to be supported and funded,” the statement continues. “Since the event is canceled, our advocacy work will experience a loss of funding and we encourage community members and allies to consider becoming a GLAAD member to ensure this work continues.”

“We are beyond proud to honor Ryan Murphy and Judith Light, two trailblazing beacons of LGBTQ advocacy and inclusion, and we will ensure their game-changing work is rightfully recognized at another time,” GLAAD said. “We are so thankful to our host Lilly Singh, performers Adam Lambert and Ben Platt, and all of the LGBTQ people who were working hard to ensure our stage show would once again send much-needed messages of LGBTQ acceptance around the globe.”

“We will be in touch with nominees shortly with plans for how award categories scheduled for the New York show will be announced, acknowledging that a GLAAD Media Award nomination or win can raise the bar for LGBTQ representation and serve as a catalyst for media executives to greenlight additional LGBTQ projects,” the statement mentions.

They concluded, “We are speaking with public health officials in Los Angeles about next month’s GLAAD Media Awards dinner and stage show. We will provide an update regarding that event in coming weeks.”