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Jul 12, 2023

The 41 Best Red Carpet Photos From the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards

Last night, celebrities showed out to fête titans in queer media at the 2023

Last night, celebrities showed out to fête titans in queer media at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. The ceremony saw stars walking the GLAAD red carpet before dipping in to a dinner honoring Jonathan Van Ness, Maren Morris, and 18 award category winners.

The host of the evening was none other than Harvey Guillén, who wore an intricate butterfly design by Christian Siriano with deep personal meaning. "It's a story from when I was six years old," Harvey told Cosmo on the GLAAD red carpet. "I was with my grandma in Mexico, and I brought my Tonka truck because I wanted to share my toys—my mom said, 'Take your toys because not everyone is as privileged as you are'—so I went to a neighbor's house to play with them, and other kids were like, 'We can't play with you because my brother says you're a 'mariposa,' which in Spanish means butterfly; It's a negative, derogatory word to describe someone being queer or gay. I didn't understand why that was a bad thing, but then they started chanting, 'Mariposa, mariposa.' And I knew it was a bad thing from the way they were chanting. I knew."

"When I walked away, I was crying and trying to grab my Tonka truck and I felt something fly by my ear," Harvey continued. "I turned around and a rock came and cut me right here on my eyebrow. It scarred. It started gushing blood and I was covered in dirt from the floor because of my truck, and I went to my mom and said, 'Mom, they kept calling me mariposa, why did they keep calling me mariposa?' And she said, 'Who called you that?' I was like, 'They did.' She said, 'Who cares what they call you? Mariposas are beautiful and they're meant to fly. So take flight.' So now I feel like I'm taking flight."

Harvey took flight on the red carpet and at the event itself, joining forces with stars like Bob The Drag Queen (who won a GLAAD Award with the team of We're Here), JVN (who accepted the Vito Russo Award), and Idina Menzel (who debuted her new song "Move" after a rendition of "Defying Gravity"). In celebration of the evening hosted by Ketel One Family Made Vodka, enjoy photos from the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards red carpet below.

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