HRC to Honor Pose at Livestreamed Event

The Human Rights Campaign will honor the groundbreaking FX series Pose with its National Visibility and Impact Award at a virtual event, Time for Equality, to be livestreamed Thursday evening.

Pose, which begins its third and final season May 2, has the largest cast of out LGBTQ+ and transgender regulars ever on a TV series. The show spotlights ballroom culture in New York City in the 1980s and '90s, and it has been nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards, with star Billy Porter being the first out gay Black man to win an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Co-creator Steven Canals and cast members Porter, Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar, Dyllon Burnside, and Sandra Bernhard are scheduled to speak at the event, which marks the first 100 days of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration.

"As Pose enters its final season, we at the Human Rights Campaign could not be prouder to honor this incredible show, cast and crew, and to thank them for the visibility they have brought to the LGBTQ community, particularly Black and Latinx trans women," HRC President Alphonso David said in a press release. "Pose has broken barriers since episode one, making it the perfect recipient for our National Visibility and Impact Award at our Time for Equality event. Together, we will celebrate this groundbreaking show while marking the progress our community has made under the Biden-Harris administration and reminding us of the critical, lifesaving work we must advance for LGBTQ people to be treated equally under law and in life."

"It's an honor to be recognized by the Human Rights Campaign for our work on Pose," said Rodriguez. "Acting in a show that tells the story of so many incredible Black and Latinx transgender women like me has been an incredibly rewarding experience, as has hearing from viewers about the effect the show has had. Pose will always have a special place in the hearts and minds of everyone the show has impacted. Our hope is that this marks the beginning of a new era of inclusion of LGBTQ storylines on television."

"The cast and producers of Pose have worked tirelessly to tell the stories from the LGBTQ community that were not previously seen as mainstream, and it's been an honor to bring those stories to light over the past three seasons," Canals added. "We appreciate the Human Rights Campaign for recognizing the important work we've done in sharing these stories and honoring us with the National Visibility and Impact Award."

The first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration have seen great progress for LGBTQ+ Americans, the HRC press release notes, with application of inclusive antidiscrimination protections across the federal government, a repeal of the transgender military ban, appointment of high-ranking, Senate-confirmed LGBTQ+ officials such as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, and more.

But 2021 has also seen attacks on LGBTQ+ rights by state legislators, with 220 anti-LGBTQ+ bills under consideration and a record 110 of these specifically aimed at transgender people -- many seeking to restrict trans youth's access to gender-affirming health care or their ability to participate in school sports under their gender identity.

Time for Equality will include an online reception Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern, followed by the livestreamed event at 8 p.m. Go here for more information and registration.