Singer Katy Perry says she escaped from
the anti-gay mindset of her childhood.
Last Sunday, The Trevor Project honored
Perry with its Trevor Hero Award for her gay rights advocacy at its
annual Trevor Live event at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
The Trevor Project is the
California-based organization centered on crisis and suicide
prevention efforts for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
youth. The non-profit runs the nation's only 24-hour, toll free
confidential suicide prevention hotline for gay and questioning
youth.
Perry, 28, dedicated the video to her
2010 single Firework to the It Gets Better Project, which
supports The Trevor Project.
In accepting the award, Perry said she
grew up in an intolerant environment.
“I grew up in a very intolerant
environment,” she said. “For a long time, I was told that people
who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning were an
abomination. But when I started to ask questions, it was hard to
find an answer that made rational sense from the bubble around me.”
“As I've grown up, I've freed myself
from that mindset,” she added to cheers from the audience. (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)