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The “Boyfriend” singer dedicated every award she ever wins to the queer community
Just hours after news broke of a mass shooting at the Club Q gay club in Colorado Springs, Colo., the stars turned out for the American Music Awards. Naturally, the event, which left five dead and 25 injured, was on some of their minds, including out “Boyfriend” singer Dove Cameron. She spoke out powerfully in support of the victims and the gay community at large in her acceptance speech for the New Artist of the Year award.
“I want to start by saying that every award that I ever win will always first and foremost be dedicated to the queer community at large,” said Cameron.
“You guys have carved out such a space for me to be myself and to write music about it and I have never felt safer or more loved or more supported, and I hope I can give you some semblance of that same feeling in my music.
“On the heels of the tragedy that happened in Club Q in Colorado Springs I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is and how important community is.
“I want to direct your attention toward organizations like GLAAD and The Trevor Project for what you can do right now.
“I want to remind you that you are made absolutely right and you are so loved and so held and I want to thank you for supporting me and thank you for holding this space, I’m holding it for you too.”
\u201cWe \ud83e\udef6 you @DoveCameron. \n\nCongrats on your FIRST American Music Award! \ud83c\udfc6 #AMAs\u201d— American Music Awards (@American Music Awards) 1668997913
On the red carpet, Cameron also spoke about the need for queer visibility at this time (and all times) as well as the painful moment when she and her team first heard about the shooting in Colorado. “I didn’t see about Club Q until maybe three hours ago,” Cameron told Variety. “Had a little team hug in the trailer, all of us are queer. So all of us shared a moment.”
\u201cDove Cameron on the importance of queer representation: \u201cQueer visibility is more important than ever\u2026it\u2019s in a permanent state of importance.\u201d #AMAs2022 https://t.co/NG0g8hZ7C0\u201d— Variety (@Variety) 1668988186
“We all need to take more accountability for our words and if we’re in the public eye, even if you’re not queer you need to be speaking up, you need to be saying something because the public is susceptible to be swayed and there’s a lot going on right now that is antiqueer,” she stressed. “We all need to be taking a stand and standing with our queer friends and doing the most we can for our community.”
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
