Laverne Cox will be honored with the Pride in Action award at Lifelong and Seattle Pride’s inaugural Pride Gala in Seattle on Saturday, June 13, an evening meant to marshal celebrity, civic and philanthropic attention for the community health nonprofit.
The event is billed as a fundraiser for Lifelong’s work providing food access, housing support, medical case management and other essential services to more than 8,200 people in Washington. Brad Goreski will host, while Macy Gray, Jake Shears and Miz Cracker are scheduled to perform; Jean Smart and Bella Thorne sit on the gala’s honorary committee and Chris Olsen will be honored for advocacy and leadership.
Lifelong is a Seattle-based community health organization with roots stretching back 43 years to the Chicken Soup Brigade. The gala is the group’s first Pride-focused fundraiser and organizers say the night is intended as an evening for equality that brings together civic, business, philanthropic and creative leaders to raise money for local services.
The stakes are immediate. Lifelong’s food program waitlist has expanded from 1,000 to 1,600 people in just a few months — a surge organizers describe as the very problem the gala aims to address. The contrast is sharp: an inaugural Pride Gala built to expand food access at the same moment demand for that access has spiked dramatically.
Cox arrives at the event as an Emmy-winning actress, producer, author and longtime advocate. She was the first openly transgender person nominated for an Emmy in an acting category for her role on Orange Is the New Black, has produced the documentary Disclosure and is the author of the memoir Transcendent. Cox has spent more than two decades fighting for transgender rights, and she recently returned to gala hosting after appearing at other benefit events.
Speaking about her work and the need to keep learning, Cox said, "I'm still a student at 54 years old," and added, "I have to continue to learn and listen and be teachable, so that I can be a better teacher." She framed local groups as essential to sustaining communities: "Local organizations foster community and foster a sense of 'I'm not alone.' You can go somewhere and meet people who are like you and have similar experiences, and that support piece is just everything, just not feeling alone and isolated is just everything."
Practical details for the night underline its visibility: the gala will pair high-profile talent and hosts with local leaders, aiming to convert that attention into donations for Lifelong’s continuum of services. Cox will accept the Pride in Action award alongside songs, speeches and a roster of cultural figures chosen to draw a broad audience.
What to watch when the gala begins is straightforward. The event is simultaneously a celebration and a test — whether Lifelong’s first Pride Gala can turn star power and civic attention into the dollars and partnerships that begin to chip away at a 1,600-person food waitlist while sustaining services for more than 8,200 people statewide. Organizers have not disclosed fundraising targets, so the immediate measure of success will be the pledges and gifts announced on and after June 13 and how quickly any new funds are deployed to address the swelling need.
