Outright International Named Beneficiary of the Inaugural Elton John Impact Awards

Outright International is honored to be named among the beneficiaries of the inaugural Elton John Impact Awards, a new podcast special from iHeartMedia and Procter & Gamble that celebrates LGBTQ+ trailblazers and the organizations working alongside them. The special launches as a podcast series on the iHeartRadio app and airs across iHeartRadio PRIDE stations on June 1.

The Elton John Impact Awards build on five years of Can't Cancel Pride, the virtual benefit concert series launched by iHeartMedia and P&G in 2020. Since then, Can't Cancel Pride has raised more than $17 million for LGBTQ+ nonprofits. Through this year's program, in partnership with Brandi Carlile's Looking Out Foundation, additional funds will be granted to a group of frontline organizations, including CenterLink, GLAAD, the National Black Justice Collective, Outright International, SAGE, and The Trevor Project. The Elton John AIDS Foundation will also receive support through the program.

This year's honorees are Jonathan Bailey, Laverne Cox, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King, Orville Peck, and Chappell Roan, recognized for their contributions to LGBTQ+ visibility, equality, and advocacy across film, music, sports, and the arts. The special will feature personal conversations between honorees, Elton John, and David Furnish, Chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, alongside a tribute performance of "Your Song" by Dove Cameron.

"At a time when LGBTQ+ rights and health equity remain under threat globally, investing in organizations on the frontlines has never been more urgent," said David Furnish.

For Outright, the recognition arrives at a moment when independent documentation of LGBTIQ people's human rights has never mattered more. With the U.S. State Department no longer publishing detailed human rights reporting on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics, Outright's Country Overviews, covering all 193 UN member states, have become an essential resource for journalists, activists, diplomats, humanitarian responders, and movement funders. The Country Overviews launched in May 2025 and continue to grow.

Support from initiatives like the Elton John Impact Awards directly sustains this research, alongside Outright's emergency response work with frontline activists in regions facing some of the steepest rollbacks in LGBTIQ rights. Funding to LGBTIQ organizations has dropped sharply in the past year, with more than $125 million stripped from the global movement. The cost of that gap is felt most by the local organizations holding their communities together.

We are grateful to Elton John, David Furnish, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Brandi Carlile, and the Looking Out Foundation, iHeartMedia, and P&G for their continued investment in this work. And we share their conviction, expressed by Elton John himself, that "this is history that cannot be forgotten and these are voices that must be heard."The Elton John Impact Awards podcast special is available June 1 on the iHeartRadio app, iHeartRadio PRIDE stations, and wherever podcasts are heard. More information at EltonJohnImpactAwards.com.