Gold Gala, which can very well be considered the biggest night of Asian excellence during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, took place on May 11 at the Music Center in Los Angeles with numerous Asian LGBTQ celebrities and allies in attendance.
Organized by Gold House CEO Bing Chen, COO Jeremy Tran, and the entire Gold House team, the annual event is a celebration of influential Asian American and Pacific Islander talent across entertainment, fashion, and technology.
Among the queer talent walking the “gold carpet” and in attendance at the gala were Joel Kim Booster, Geena Rocero, Sherry Cola, Prabal Gurung, Margaret Cho, Towa Bird, Renee Rapp, Alok, Auli’i Cravalho, Kim Chi, Nymphia Wind, Eugene Lee Yang, Jose Antonio Vargas, Bobby Berk, Melissa King, Lily Singh, Cynthia Erivo, Lena Waithe, among others.
Newly crowned RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Nymphia Wind was in attendance and performed at the Billboard and Gold House Founders Party after the gala and Cynthia Erivo was honored with the Gold Ally award by her Wicked director Jon M. Chu and co-star Michelle Yeoh.
The award-winning actress and singer took the stage and delivered an inspiring speech about representation in Hollywood. She championed LGTBQ voices and also shined a light on Black and Asian solidarity throughout the decades. She asked, “Can we please work together more?” urging the two communities to bolster their collaboration efforts.
Erivo added, “I love the work that we put into the world, but we almost always do it separately, and quite frankly, we’re so much more flavorful when we do it together. So more for us: more for every single one of you in this room, and I hope that I get to see many of your names in lights, and I get to do it with you.”
Moana star Auli’i Cravalho took the stage to honor Maui wildfire first responders while icon Hello Kitty received the Gold Generation award. Regina King honored acting legend Lucy Liu with a Gold Legend award to which the Charlie’s Angels alum said in her speech: “There are a lot of decisions that one makes because of the limitations. And I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling, and I’ve never seen that for myself. I want us to all collectively understand how special this moment is, that we are together as a community.”
At one point the stage was filled with AAPI Olympians and Paralympians including Gold Medal figure skating icon Kristi Yamaguchi, snowboarding Gold Medalist Chloe Kim, most decorated Winter Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno, Olympic Bronze Medalist ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani, and Paralympian Scout Bassett. They helped celebrate 2022 Gold Medal Olympians Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock, and Evan Bates ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Other honorees included Gold Legend recipient Padma Lakshmi and Korea-based BTS mogul Bang Si-Hyuk. Trailblazing Indian filmmaker Karan Johar was also honored as a Gold Legend. The inaugural Billboard Gold Music award was given to Saweetie, who performed later in the evening while Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and the cast of the Emmy-winning Netflix series took home the Gold Icon award. The Sympathizer star Hoa Xuande was bestowed with the New Gold Honor and content creator Valkyrae was recognized for excellence in the gaming space.
Click here to read the full list of A1oo Honorees for 2024.