Amiyah Scott, transgender advocate and actress on FOX’s Star will be honored at the 2018 GLAAD Atlanta Gala event on Friday, November 9 at The Estate (3109 Piedmont St.). GLAAD Atlanta is a celebration of national and local leaders accelerating LGBTQ acceptance and will be hosted by actress and recording artist Kat Graham.  For more info visit glaad.org/atlanta. 

Scott plays Cotton on Lee Daniel’s FOX series Star and will receive GLAAD’s Rising Star Award, which is given to young artists who are using their growing platform to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance. The inaugural award was presented to actor Tommy Dorfman last year at the event. Angelica Ross, friend of Amiyah Scott and star of FX’s Pose, will present the award.

Ross stars as Candy on Pose and is a part of television history as the show features the largest transgender cast ever for a scripted series.  Ross is also the President of Miss Ross, Inc. and founder of TransTech Social Enterprises, an organization that helps people lift themselves out of poverty through technical training and digital work creating a social impact and bringing economic empowerment to marginalized trans and LGBTQ communities.

“Amiyah Scott is a talented actress and brilliant advocate who uses her voice to uplift transgender women of color and educate fans everywhere about transgender people and issues,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “At a time when LGBTQ visibility in the South is critical to moving our community forward, we are proud to stand with women like Amiyah to promote messages of love and acceptance.”

Scott is the first transgender women of color to play a regular character in a scripted drama series on broadcast television.  Originally from New Orleans, she first made her mark as a teenager, blazing a trail through the city’s underground ballroom scene. Having overcome bullying and intimidation to emerge as a proud advocate for the LGBTQ community, she continues to focus her efforts on providing transgender females a voice.  Most recently she joined Laverne Cox, Janet Mock and other transgender leaders to speak out against the Trump Administration’s reported anti-transgender proposal.

The GLAAD Atlanta Gala is supported by presenting partners Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Ketel One Family-Made Vodka and Turner, community partners Active Production & Design, Atlantic American/Gray Television, Georgia Power, Mercedes-Benz USA, and Wells Fargo.

For more information: glaad.org/events/2018/atlanta.