By Ed Diokno
Logo TV’s original series Beautiful As I Want to Be is receiving special recognition from the 27th GLAAD Media Awards, which will be held tonight in Los Angeles.
Beautiful As I Want To Be paired young and dynamic trans people with mentors like Trace Lysette, Our Lady J, Jen Richards and Caitlyn Jenner. It was produced and hosted by Filipina American model Geena Rocero, who came out when she gave a TED talk in 2014. Since then she has become active in trans advocacy founding an organization Gender Proud.
“Creating Beautiful As I Want To Be was and is about elevating visibility, most especially by allowing trans youth to define beauty for themselves,” says Rocero, who noted the record number of transgender subjects, actors, creators and producers being nominated this year.
“We’re so grateful Logo immediately saw and supported this vision and we’re grateful to be working alongside such supportive media makers.”
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The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.
It’s a busy weekend for Geena. Tomorrow its the debut of ASPIREist, where she has been hired as one of news show’s correspondents.
ASPIREist is created by Emmy award-winning producers including Solly Granatstein of 60 Minutes.
“I think there is a different way to present the news to the millennials,” said Granatstein. “I don’t think they’re looking for this “objective,” Voice of God, kind of standard, anchor driven news. I think they’re looking for something more experiential, more interactive, they can get involve with that has more an activist bent to it.”
The hosts are not traditional news anchors. They are 20- and 30-something personalities who are themselves inspiring and passionate activists, environmentalists, social entrepreneurs and educators. And they all have one thing in common, they all have appeared in Ted Talks.
“Geena, from the very moment that we met her, we were absolutely charmed by her,” said Granatstein. “She has such an incredible charisma and it’s really grounded being a very real person.”
(Ed Diokno writes a blog :Views From The Edge: news and analysis from an Asian American perspective.)
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