“Pose” Co-Creator Receiving Award for Trailblazing LGBTQ Leadership
Strike a pose, score a Point.
Point Foundation, America's largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit, is honoring Steven Canals, co-creator, co-executive producer, and writer of Pose.
Canals will receive the Point Horizon Award October 13 at the Point Honors Los Angeles 2018 Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The prestigious award recognizes a trailblazer who has taken a leadership role as an advocate of the LGBTQ community.
Focusing on gay and trans performers in New York City’s 1980s ballroom scene, Pose has made history with the most trans series regulars ever in an American scripted TV series. The production has also employed more than 100 trans actors, crew members, and consultants.
Canals created the groundbreaking FX series in collaboration with producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.
"We all have a story to tell," says Canals in a statement. "And as a university student I honed the skills needed to communicate my story. But education is only one part of what it takes to obtain a seat at the table. You must have passion, be disciplined, and be fearless."
"The courage to tell my story comes from being part of a resilient and joyful community," Canals continues. "I look at Point Foundation's scholarship recipients, many of them trans and queer, Black and Brown, and I am euphoric to see a community of students thriving and telling their stories unapologetically."
"As LGBTQ people, it was a long and arduous struggle to see ourselves honestly reflected in TV and film," adds Jorge Valencia, Point Foundation's executive director and CEO. "Now, through the work of a new generation of talented creators like Steven Canals, we're not only visible, but we have representations of the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ experience we can celebrate."
A Bronx native who identifies as queer and Afro-Latinx, Canals began his professional writing career as a research assistant for Oscar-winning screenwriter and past Point honoree Dustin Lance Black.
Other previous Point honorees include Lena Dunham, Jonathan Groff, Robin Roberts, and Jill Soloway.
Some of Point's 97 current scholarship recipients and 300 alumni will attend the L.A. gala to share their stories about overcoming adversity to earn higher education degrees.
Pose has been renewed for a second season and will return in 2019.