Italian designer and fashion icon Donatella Versace recently received the Game Changer Honor at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards (GCFA) 2024 in Los Angeles, a distinction that celebrates her impactful contributions and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. Her role as a Stonewall ambassador and her significant support for The Elton John AIDS Foundation, particularly through her co-chair position for The Rocket Fund, underline her commitment. The Rocket Fund aims to raise $125 million to support the foundation’s mission of ending AIDS by 2030. Additionally, Donatella’s vocal support for LGBTQ+ rights in Italy and globally has been instrumental in her recognition.
The award was presented to Donatella by Jennifer Coolidge and Michaela J. Rodriguez, who both commended her for her unwavering support and dedication to LGBTQ+ rights. This award builds on Donatella’s previous recognition at The CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2023, where she was honored with The Humanitarian Award for Equity and Inclusivity. This award acknowledged her efforts in championing minority rights, with a focus on the LGBTQ+ community.
The Green Carpet Fashion Awards highlight the necessity for cultural change within the fashion industry and beyond, celebrating those who inspire such transformation. The awards emphasize the importance of giving a platform to a new generation of activists from various global hotspots, advocating for political, social, and environmental progress. The Game Changer Honor, specifically, is given to individuals in the fashion world who make significant efforts to include and amplify marginalized voices, recognizing their role in fostering a more inclusive and equitable society.
Thank you so much to Livia Firth and the Green Carpet family for this Change Maker award. I have always tried to embrace Change – even when it felt difficult. Change is a great teacher. We cannot grow without it.
My entire life changed when I lost my brother, Gianni. But through that loss, I grew in so many important ways. That is what compelled me to join the LGBTQ+ movement. This community is now my chosen family. I have learned so much from my time spent with queer and transgender leaders and activists. I have seen love that has defied laws, political borders, and institutional religions. I have spoken out in my home country, Italy, where gay couples are forbidden from adopting children. In Ghana it is now a crime to even be an ally to LGBTQ+ people.
As you know this hatred is also sweeping through the United States. More than 400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation have been introduced in this country, with the majority of them targeting the transgender population. This has disastrous consequences. Look at the tragic passing of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old from Oklahoma, who was pronounced dead after a fight with their classmates. Nex told police and teachers they were being relentlessly bullied, and no adult
intervened. This is an unspeakable tragedy.I consider any attack on the LGBTQ+ community to be an attack on my family. I am being honoured today as a Changemaker, so I hope you consider how you too can join the change we need. We must educate ourselves about this anti-LGBTQ movement and learn more about the trans community. Lives are at stake – and we must raise our voices, vote, and donate. We cannot allow the progress we are fighting so hard for to change for the worse. Thank you. – Donatella Versace
bravo donatella!