Washington, DC – Today, Equality PAC announced that Academy Award and Golden Globe winning actress Mary Steenburgen and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Ted Danson will be the 2024 recipients of the Nancy Pelosi Equality Ally Award. This prestigious annual award, presented by Equality PAC, recognizes extraordinary allies of the LGBTQ community who have proudly, relentlessly, and without hesitation stood up for LGBTQ individuals and their rights.
“We are honored to present the 2024 Nancy Pelosi Equality Ally Award to Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson. Throughout their incredible careers, Mary and Ted have stood with the LGBTQ community, even long before it was popular to do so,” said Equality PAC Co-Chairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) and Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY). “To advance our equality agenda – and finally enshrine LGBTQ rights in our laws – we need strong allies in every part of our society, whether it be in the workplace, in our politics, or in entertainment. That is how we create a more inclusive and accepting world for the LGBTQ community of the present and the future. Mary and Ted best exemplify what it means to be an ally to our community, and Equality PAC is proud to celebrate their activism, advocacy, and friendship over the decades.”
For years, Steenburgen and Danson have been unwavering in their support of the LGBTQ community. When LGBTQ persons have come under attack, the pair have been outspoken against discrimination, hate, and bigotry. In Hollywood and through their acting careers, Danson and Steenburgen have pushed the bounds of LGBTQ inclusion. In 1993, Steenburgen starred in Philadelphia, an Academy Award winning movie about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Steenburgen and Danson will receive the Nancy Pelosi Equality Ally Award at Equality PAC’s annual Pride Gala on Thursday, June 13, 2024 at Washington, DC’s historic union station. This is not only Equality PAC’s largest event in terms of attendees and fundraising each year – but this year’s gathering is also Equality PAC’s celebration of its 10th anniversary.
Steenburgen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actress. Danson is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor. Together, they have been nominated for numerous more awards for their work in film and television.
Equality PAC’s mission is simple: to elect more LGBTQ+ persons to Congress — individuals who will have a seat at the table, impact the debate, and humanize the LGBTQ community’s concerns. All the funds raised are used to elect and re-elect LGBTQ persons to Congress and secondarily support strong LGBTQ community allies who will proudly and unapologetically stand with us in the fight to pass the Equality Act and equal protection under our nation’s laws.
In the short time that Equality PAC has existed, Equality PAC has played an unmatched role in making history for the LGBTQ community, electing LGBTQ leaders at the federal level such as current House Members Sharice Davis (Kansas); Ritchie Torres (New York); Becca Balint (Vermont); Robert Garcia (California); Eric Sorensen (Illinois); Angie Craig (Minnesota); and Chris Pappas (New Hampshire), as well as former House Member Mondaire Jones (New York).
Equality PAC has been instrumental in winning key races that have determined control of Congress because we know that without pro-Equality majorities, the progress our community has made and the civil rights and equal protections we have fought so hard for, and are still fighting for every day, remain in jeopardy.
