On Wednesday, June 14, queer and intersectional creatives, activists, and luminaries gathered together on the purple carpet at the 2023 Now Awards, hosted by Them editor-in-chief Sarah Burke. As guests descended the stairs to follow the pulsing bass in the room below, any semblance of the late-afternoon sunlight was quickly replaced with a multi-colored neon glow.
Held at ArtSpace at the Public Hotel in New York, the disco glam-themed cocktail reception and ceremony recognized this year’s 12 LGBTQ+ award recipients who stand at the vanguard of queer culture. It featured a performance by musician Vincint, and honorees in attendance included model and internet influencer Dylan Mulvaney; film director Kristen Lovell; founder and CEO of Diaspora Co. Sana Javeri Kadri; and president of Minneapolis City Council Andrea Jenkins. Figures such as screenwriter Our Lady J; actress Dominique Jackson; Walmart vice president of marketing Alvis Washington; and Transgender Equity Consulting founder Cecilia Gentili presented the recipients with their respective awards.
Following a number by drag performer and musician Luxx Noir London, Burke took to the stage to introduce the ceremony and its purpose. “As LGBTQ+ people, we are constantly evolving, and what that means is that we are also constantly at the forefront of both culture and change for everyone,” she said. “We are the ones driving us into the future with our resilience and innovation and resourcefulness in the work that we do.”
Time and time again, this very sense of resilience has been put to the test. In a recent survey conducted by the Trevor Project, nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ young people attributed poor mental health to anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Earlier this month, Texas became the largest state to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, while the number of bills targeting queer communities this year has doubled since 2022 alone. Now more than ever, recognition, celebration, and protection of these voices – in and out of queer spaces – continues to be so deeply necessary.
“If we allow for this moment to pass without there really being a riot, without there being a shaking, a disruption that wakes up the entire city, that wakes up the entire country, the consensus is that trans rights will never be up for debate,” said costume designer and founder of Black Trans Liberation Qween Jean, before she presented the vanguard award to Jenkins. As award-presenters and awardees spoke, both a sense of accomplishment for how far LGBTQ+ visibility has come and deep-rooted urgency for all that still must be done to build toward an equitable future permeated the space. “I just want my fellow trans family, particularly trans youth, to be able to feel that they deserve fullness in their lives, the fullness to dream,” said model and activist Geena Rocero in her acceptance speech for the literature award. Released in May, Rocero’s memoir Horse Barbie navigates her career participating in beauty pageants in the Philippines to modeling in New York, commending her transgender predecessors along the way.
“You can't take away this moment from any of us as we pay tribute to our own history,” said Burton Bridges, who is a board member and resident queen of the non-profit Friends of George’s. Bridges and fellow performers Robert Phillips and Sandy Kozik accepted the art award on behalf of the LGBTQ+ theater troupe, which recently successfully filed a lawsuit against Tennessee for a law that would have made it the first state to ban public drag performances.
The real-life change brought about by Friends of George’s is proof of how community and conversation are integral first steps to enacting transformation. And with an evening centered on queer visibility, agency, and the ability to reclaim and reintroduce queerness to areas it may have been overlooked, the 2023 Now Awards only further reaffirmed this.
“Now that I found myself, I don't want to go back,” said Mulvaney, who received the internet influence award. “I'm still scared. I think we all are, but I feel less afraid when I'm with all of you.”
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