Amiyah Scott and POSE FX’s Angelica Ross & Ryan Jamaal Swain Attend GLAAD Atlanta

Photo Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Ketel One Vodka

Amiyah Scott, transgender advocate and actress on FOX’s Star was honored at the 2018 GLAAD Atlanta Gala event on Friday, November 9 at The Estate. GLAAD Atlanta is a celebration of national and local leaders accelerating LGBTQ acceptance and will be hosted by actress and recording artist Kat Graham. Other special guests included The Walking Dead actor Daniel Newman, TV host Thomas Roberts, reality star Jermaine Sellers, singer Tena Clark, author Michelle LeClair and GLAAD Board Chair Pamela Stewart. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Atlanta also peformed at the event. For more info visit http://glaad.org/atlanta.

Scott plays Cotton on Lee Daniel’s FOX series “Star” and received 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.

“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.”

Angelica Ross, friend of Amiyah Scott and star of FX’s Pose, presented 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.

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.

Photo Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Ketel One Vodka