Jay-Z’s mother Gloria Carter is to receive the Special Recognition Award at New York’s 2018 GLAAD Media Awards.
The 48-year-old rapper’s parent will be presented with the honour to recognise her brave journey coming out as a gay woman of colour at the annual LGBT ceremony on May 5 at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel.
On accepting the award, Gloria will take to the stage to talk about coming out and how it impacted on her’s and her family’s life.
GLAAD’s president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said: "By sharing her truth with the world, Gloria Carter increased visibility of lesbian women of colour at a critical time and sent a powerful message of empowerment to the entire LGBTQ community.
"Her story and the unconditional love that her family exhibits resonate with so many. The GLAAD Media Awards will be a critical platform to honour her work and further this important message."
Gloria revealed she identifies as a lesbian when she duetted with her son on his track ‘Smile’ – which appeared on his latest album ‘4:44’ – in which the pair celebrate her sexuality, and revealed what it was like to keep quiet for the sake of Gloria’s brood.
The ‘Encore’ hitmaker – who has six-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, and 10-month-old twins Rumi and Sir with his wife Beyonce – previously admitted he "really cried" when his mother came out to him, as he was "so happy for her".
And he opened up on the emotional heart-to-heart the pair had when his mother told him her secret, admitting he is happy she can now be "free".
He said: "Imagine having to live your life as someone else and you think you’re protecting your kids. And for my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn’t and hide and protect her kids … [she] didn’t want to embarrass her kids for all this time. And for her to sit in front of me and say, ‘I think I love someone…’ I mean, I really cried. That’s a real story.
"I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free. This happened eight months ago when the album was being made. She told me. I made the song the next day."
Jay-Z’s mother to receive GLAAD Media Awards Special Recognition honour
