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Out rapper Lil Nas X wins American Ingenuity Award

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Photo: Gettyimages/Roy Rochlin

Lil Nas X, fresh off the heels of becoming the first out gay performer to win a Country Music Association Award, is already being honored again.

On Tuesday, Smithsonian magazine announced that the rapper-singer-songwriter, who rose to stardom with his genre-bending, record-breaking single “Old Town Road,” is the recipient of their American Ingenuity Award for Youth.

The award is one of seven bestowed by the magazine annually, across a wide range of categories: Youth, Visual Arts, Social Progress, Technology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Performing Arts.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Lil Nas X, rapper-singer-songwriter who rose to stardom with his genre-bending, record-breaking single “Old Town Road,” honored for Youth.

Amy Sherald, painter known for her portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama, whose work seeks to fit African Americans into the canon of American portraiture, honored for Visual Arts.

José Andrés, restaurateur and founder of World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit that is revolutionizing the way emergency food aid is delivered, honored for Social Progress.

Alex Kipman, Brazilian-born inventor and visionary behind many of Microsoft’s most pioneering products, including the “mixed-reality” headset known as HoloLens, honored for Technology.

Ewelina Mamcarz, Stephen Gottschalk and Brian Sorrentino (posthumously), the team of doctors at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital who developed a cure for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency—a genetic disorder colloquially known as “bubble boy” disease, honored for Life Sciences.


Sheperd Doeleman and the Event Horizon Telescope Team, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Harvard University, who led a team of more than 200 researchers in the international effort to create the first-ever image of a black hole, honored for Physical Sciences.

Heidi Schreck, writer and star of “What the Constitution Means to Me,” a play that opens an honest debate over the meaning, value and limitations of America’s founding document, honored for Performing Arts.

“Our American Ingenuity Awards honor those individuals who are spearheading revolutionary change in society,” says Smithsonian magazine creative director Maria Keehan. “We are celebrating visionaries across a multitude of platforms, from those aiding disaster victims worldwide to those developing a life-saving gene therapy or redefining what is means to mix genres in music. We are proud to honor this year’s class, all of whom are at the top of their respective fields.

The winners are featured in Smithsonian magazine’s special December American Ingenuity Awards issue, available now at Smithsonianmag.com/ingenuity and on newsstands Nov. 26.

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PHOTOS: New York City Pride Parade

Annual LGBTQ march held in Manhattan

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The 2024 New York City Pride Parade was held on June 30. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2024 New York City Pride Parade wound through the streets of Manhattan and past the historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday, June 30.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

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PHOTOS: Fredericksburg Pride

Fourth annual LGBTQ march and festival held in Virginia town

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The 2024 Fredericksburg Pride March wound through the streets of Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The fourth annual Fredericksburg Pride march and festival was held at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 29. The event began with a march around downtown Fredericksburg beginning and ending in the park.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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PHOTOS: Goodwin Living Pride

Senior living and healthcare organization holds fourth annual march at Falls Church campus

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Drag artist Crimsyn marches alongside residents and supporters at the fourth annual Goodwin Living Bailey's Crossroads community Pride march on June 25. (Photo courtesy of Goodwin Living)

The senior living and healthcare organization Goodwin Living held its fourth annual community Pride march around its Bailey’s Crossroads campus in Falls Church, Va. with residents, friends and supporters on Tuesday, June 25. Following the march, a drag brunch was held with performances by drag artists of SADBrunch: Crimsyn, Sapphire Dupree and Evon Dior Michelle.

(Photos courtesy of Goodwin Living)

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