NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Pop-dance recording artist SIR IVAN aka "Peaceman" announced today he is kicking off a campaign to raise awareness of transgender issues. This is also a new area of focus for The Peaceman Foundation, SIR IVAN's philanthropic organization, which has been a longtime supporter of LGBT issues, fighting hate crime, bullying and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.).
The campaign will begin on October 14, 2015, when SIR IVAN hosts a screening of a new documentary, called "SIR IVAN: I Am Peaceman", which chronicles the musical and philanthropic career of SIR IVAN. The film is directed by four-time Emmy award-winning director Jim Brown, who has also done documentaries on Billy Joel, Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Released by POP TWIST through MVD Visual Entertainment Inc., the leading pop culture sales company, with event programming featuring Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Bono, Amy Winehouse and many more, this documentary is available on Amazon, Vimeo On Demand and Google Play. The screening will take place at the Angelika Theater at 18 W. Houston Street in Manhattan on Wednesday, October 14, from 7-8pm. Following the screening, SIR IVAN will host an after-party at "Peaceman's Penthouse Pad" in SoHo from 8-11pm.
There, SIR IVAN will present a $10,000 check to Abbe Land, Executive Director of The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBT community, and which has special programs for the transgender community. He and The Peaceman Foundation donated $100,000 to The Trevor Project in 2012, and earlier this year they donated and additional $100,000 to ten different anti-bullying organizations, bringing total donations to over $200,000.
Furthermore, in 2015, SIR IVAN released an anti-bullying single with pop star Taylor Dayne called "Kiss All the Bullies Goodbye," produced by Paul Oakenfold. The music video, directed by BET and MTV award-winner Erik White, shows the story of a transgendered teen being bullied. SIR IVAN, who has fashioned himself into a modern-day superhero of sorts, and even wears a cape with a peace sign, is helping to change the world for the better, both through his music and through his philanthropy.
"As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I've always been an activist for people who have been persecuted. I was brought up with a heightened awareness of the harm that being perceived as different can cause. Transgender people often lack a support system and are more likely to be fired or bullied, to experience difficulties and have a much higher suicide rate. I, for one, will not stand for it and I hope people will unite with me against this injustice. When the president of my own record label, Peaceman Music, Laura Ford (formerly Lawrence Ford), informed me that 41 percent of all transgendered people attempt suicide, I decided they needed my help the most."
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