On Monday night, there was a special celebration in New York City. GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, held their 11th Annual New York Respect Awards at Gotham Hall.
The Hall was filled with many celebrities including Robin Roberts, Chely Wright, Dot Marie Jones, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, AND…Clay Aiken.
The GLSEN Respect Awards are held annually in Los Angeles and New York. They provide an opportunity to celebrate champions of LGBT experiences. According to the GLSEN website:
The Respect Awards showcase the work of corporations, individuals, students and educators who make a significant contribution to LGBT issues in K-12 education, diversity and inclusion, and who serve as exemplary role models.
During the evening program, Clay Aiken joined a GLSEN student ambassador at the podium. Clay spoke about bullying in schools. He reminded the audience that he and others from GLSEN had stopped by Washington D.C. in support of two anti-bullying bills. He commented that because of the support of GLSEN, the bills have more support from both parties in D.C. He mentioned that the bills need to be passed NOW!
Before he sat down, Clay had the honor of introducing the Executive Director of GLSEN, Dr. Eliza Byard who spoke to the audience about the important things that GLSEN has been involved with in the past year and praised the hard work of the members.
Twitter exploded about Clay’s attendance at this exciting event. There was a special quote from Clay that became popular:
“No child should have to rely on being lucky to survive middle and high school.”~ Clay Aiken
Other people seemed thrilled that Clay was there. The following are a few tweets that were published during the event:
@KaraLaricks
@clayaiken Wonderful to see you tonight at the #RespectAwards – you are such a kind and gracious human being. All the best to you!
@NickPatrickNYC 3m
@clayaiken looks happy @GLSEN #RespectAwards
@marthalangmuir 3m
Love seeing student leaders like @paulinaaldaba on stage with celebrities like @clayaiken.
@CSRphil 2m
Clay Aiken y’all! @glsen #respectawards
~~~~~
A quick thank you to lindylo for the screen caps from Clay’s speech.
This was attached to a tweet
From The GLSEN Website:
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to create a more vibrant and diverse community. For information on GLSEN’s research, educational resources, public policy advocacy, student organizing programs and educator training initiatives, visit www.glsen.org.
http://www.clayaiken.com
is active again.
It looks like Clay and his team are ready to start the new campaign!
I hope Clay and his team will let us know how we can help!
Don’t forget to check in here during the day.
It looks like Clays campaign is up and running and I expect that we will have news about Clay and his run for Congress…SOON
As always, it will be posted as quickly as possible!
I’m always proud when Clay speaks, he really means what he says and now especially he’s trying to make a difference in DC. Glad he’s getting back to the campaign.
So glad to see Clay back in the spotlight doing good works. Thanks for posting this so quickly, CANN, it made my day.
I sure hope we see some kind of acceptance speech!!! We need his confetti moment!!!! I saw his speech and it was wonderful! Go Clay! Clay for Congress! Let the campaign begin!!!!
Great post Martha, happy to hear Clay is back campaigning again, can't wait to hear more news. Thanks all xo
I was able to watch a replay of this event. So sad there has to be a "Safe" room in schools where someone can go to not get picked on. Also the comment from Clay "no one should have to be "lucky" to make it through middle or high school.
That said. LET THE CAMPAIGN BEGIN!!!!!!
I loved seeing Clay at the GLSEN event last night. He is so very good at public speaking and all that he said was so important.
It is fun to see the campaign active again!
Go CLAY, Go!
im so happy and pleased that clay is campaing again i cant wait to her more amazing news and great poast martha