GMCLA Announces 6th Annual Voice Awards Celebration

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), whose mission is to change hearts and minds through the power of music, announced a stellar lineup of honorees and special guests for the 6th annual Voice Awards Celebration.

Held on Saturday, May 20, 2017, this year's star-studded event will take place at the J.W. Marriot at L.A. Live in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Daniel Franzese will host the festivities, which will honor Logo, lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz and Human Rights Campaign board member and community activist Gwen Baba.

Special guests for the evening will include Lisa Vanderpump (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Lance Bass (Finding Prince Charming, singer), Michael Turchin (actor), Amin El Gamal (Prison Break), Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls, Looking), Pauley Perrette (NCIS), Alexandra Grey (Transparent), Zeke Smith (Survivor), Isabella Gomez (One Day At A Time), Dot-Marie Jones (Glee), Hayden Byerly (The Fosters), Kalama Epstein (The Fosters), Ty Herndon (country singer) Michelle Visage (RuPaul's Drag Race), Craig Ramsay (2 Broke Girls, The Newly Weds), Gary Hall Jr. (Olympic gold medalist), Rain Valdez (Lopez), Michelle Clunie (Queer as Folk), Jeff Zarrillo & Paul Katami (Plaintiffs in California's Prop 8 case) and more.

Each year GMCLA hosts the Voice Awards gala and silent auction to honor members and allies of the LGBTQ community who use their voices to promote social change and equal�ity. The Voice Award honorees exhibit leadership and give hope to those living under the weight of silence. The high-profile charity event raises vital funds for GMCLA's programmatic work. This includes the Alive Music Project, a powerful program providing music education and teaching students about anti-bullying, and the national it gets better tour, a unique residency and stage production imparting the "it gets better" message across the country.

"The work of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles became ten times more important on November 8, 2016. The need for our community outreach has never been greater or more urgent; and we thank our generous supporters for making our work possible," said executive director, Jonathan Weedman. "With all that we face in our country now during these challenging times, we look forward to coming together on May 20th at what will be another fantastic evening, where we will celebrate our distinguished honorees, and the vital work of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles."

GMCLA's 2017 Voice Award honorees include:

Visionary Voice Award - Presented to Logo, the dominant LGBTQ brand and the only network in all of cable to achieve ten consecutive quarters of year over year growth. Logo features one-of-a-kind personalities, shows, specials and events including the Emmy� Award winning series Rupaul's Drag Race, Cocktails & Classics, Finding Prince Charming, Fire Island, Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars and Logo Trailblazer Honors celebrates the activists, and cultural icons who have made the world better for LGBTQ people. Adding to its diverse programming lineup, Logo is the exclusive destination in the U.S. for the Eurovision Song Contest, which is the world's largest non-sporting live TV event and the most watched live entertainment program in Europe. The network is also home to the acclaimed Logo Documentary Films, a division dedicated to stories of survival, strength and solidarity with award-winning titles like Out of Iraq, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, Strike a Pose and Mind Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw.

Vanguard Voice Award - Presented to Grammy and Academy Award-winning lyricist and composer, Stephen Schwartz. A longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, Schwartz was inspired by Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project to write the choral piece "Testimony" and helped produce "Tyler's Suite." Both pieces have been used in anti-bullying and suicide prevention campaigns nationwide. Schwartz's other charitable work has included organizing the Uprising of Love concert to benefit and raise awareness of LGBTQ people in hostile countries as well as producing benefits for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Faustman Clinic. He has also appeared in benefits for such causes as the Sandy Hook families, marriage equality, the Gender and Family Project and more.

Community Leader Voice Award - Presented to community activist Gwen Baba. Baba brings more than 30 years of volunteer experience serving on not-for-profit boards and as an advisor and fund raiser to candidates seeking political office. In 1996, Baba joined the board of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. She was a two-term board co-chair; held a leadership position with HRC's capital campaign, having helped oversee the purchase, renovation and fund raising for HRC's permanent home in Washington, DC; twice co-chaired the executive search committee; and co-chaired HRC's first ever strategic planning committee. Presently she serves on the Audit committee. Locally, Baba has co-chaired the HRC Los Angeles annual dinner multiple times, raising significant funds for the organization and is very active in the HRCLA Steering Committee.?

The 6th annual Voice Awards is presented by Foresters Financial with additional support from partners: Merrill Lynch, SoCalGas, Athens Services, David Bohnett Foundation, The Arts Club, Witkoff/Latham & Watkins, AirBnB, Jay& Deanie Stein, Abacus, ACE Outdoor, Mark Snedden & Michael Lewis, Clear Channel Outdoor, Mani Brothers Real Estate Group, AHHS, MedMen, Faring Capital, Charles Company, BMB Investment, IAC, Laurel Hardware, Orange Barrel Media, Combined Properties, 8950 Sunset, California Community Foundation, and Demitri Samaha, Lawrence Legg & E.T. Legg & Associates, Ltd.

To purchase tickets and learn more about the Voice Awards, please visit: http://voiceawards.gmcla.org/

ABOUT GMCLA

GMCLA has garnered international acclaim for artistic excellence while remaining deeply rooted in service to the Los Angeles community and beyond by promoting civil rights and acceptance through music. Founded in 1979 during the emergence of the gay civil rights movement, critics have proclaimed the chorus "inspired," "expressive, innovative, and utterly moving," and hailed it for presenting "meaningful entertainment."