KATY PERRY HONOURED FOR SUPPORTING LGBT YOUTH

Pop star Katy Perry has been honoured by America’s largest LGBT teen suicide prevention group for her support of the LGBT community.

Perry was awarded the Trevor Hero Award at a star-studded event in Hollywood on Sunday that benefited the Trevor Project, which provides crisis and suicide intervention services to LGBT teens and young adults.

“I hope all LGBTQ youth know that they are as valuable as anyone else, that they are amazing and unique, and make the world a more vibrant place,” Perry told the audience.

“Trevor’s life-saving, life-affirming work helps youth find the future they deserve. I want every young person to choose to have a tomorrow and to dream for the future.”

Perry continued, “And if they don’t get to hear it enough, I hope they know that they can pick up the phone to call the Trevor Lifeline, or log on and talk to someone on TrevorChat. It’s okay to ask for help. You are worth it. Make a pledge to yourself to get help if you need it, because we need you in our lives.”

The singer admitted that she hadn’t always been so progressive and that she and her family had evolved over the years.

“I grew up in a very intolerant environment. For a long time, I was told that people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning were an abomination. As I’ve grown up, I’ve freed myself from the mindset.

“There was some perspective growth in my family. I believe in change…believe that sexuality is fluid – nobody introduces me as, ‘This is Katy Perry, she is straight’. I hope in the future that we will all grow beyond labels, beyond treating gays as a novelty friend group.”

Perry has included images and messages affirming LGBT people in her work, most notably in her music video for the hit Firework that featured two male teens kissing. She has also publicly backed same-sex marriage rights. Perry found fame with her 2008 song I Kissed a Girl.