Equality Texas just announced the honorees for its firs- ever Ally Awards. Earlier this month, I spoke with rapper Adair Lion about his viral song and video “Gay is Okay,” which garnered a whole lot of buzz. Now comes word he will receive the Equality Texas Ally Individual of the Year Award alongside his fiancee, Miss West Texas Kaylee Anne Keith, whose platform includes bullying prevention. Lion is in good company. JCPenney was named Business of the Year and the POTUS (and VPOTUS) were named Civic Leaders of the Year.
I called Lion for his response. He was both nervous and thrilled.
“I don’t know what to wear,” he said at first. But he finds himself rather amazed by the honor and his fellow winners.
“Isn’t that awesome? I feel ecstatic especially since this is the first time for the awards. I’m so honored and it’s really crazy,” he said.
It also meant a great deal to share it with his fiancee. He felt Keith may have crashed-and-burned with her LGBT-friendly platform at the Miss Texas pageant, but he’s more proud that she stayed true to her platform where others advised her not to.
“She really stuck out her neck in an area of Texas where this talk is still a bit taboo. To stand up for the community in West Texas, people would tell her not to push this platform. It could have been great or disastrous for her. It worked in Miss West Texas though, but not so much in Miss Texas. But I’m so proud of her and this award is like a validation of that. The dialogue needs to be open for everyone — rappers, beauty queens, artists — and this won’t be taboo anymore. When morality changes, that’s when the laws change. We’re seeing that now.”
The Ally Awards will take place June 22 at the Vendome. Read the full press release here.
