A vocal champion of gay rights, Lady Gaga is set to be honoured by the LGBT community. It was announced that the Paparazzi star would receive a Hero Award from the Trevor Project to as a mark of recognition for her work with the LGBT community in December.

The Trevor project was founded off the back of a 1994 HBO documentary which followed a 13 year-old boy named Trevor, who struggled to find acceptance amongst his family and friends because of his sexuality and eventually attempts to take his own life as a result. The project seeks to provide round-the-clock advice and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth.

The cause will be very close to home for Gaga, following the suicide of 14-year old fan Jamey Rodemeyer in September this year. Rodemeyer – described by his peers as an “outwardly upbeat and extroverted personality” – took his own life as a result of consistent homophobic bullying at his school in New York.

Gaga spoke out against the tragic event, promising to lobby President Obama to pass legislation to make bullying illegal and stating at the iHeartRadio music festival: “Your identity is really all you've got when you're in school [...] Jamey, I know you're up there looking at us, and you're not a victim ... you're a lesson to all of us.”

A spokesperson from the Trevor Project told the press, ““Our young people are at the centre of a health crisis, and vocal leaders like Lady Gaga… have stepped up to help change our culture. We are proud to honour Lady Gaga for [her] work to help young people express themselves with pride.”

Image credit: Rex Features

Words by Dipal Acharya

Lady Gaga wins Hero Award