US songstress Katy Perry is a "very beautiful example" of someone who unites people through music.

The star was honoured with the Trevor 'Hero' Award at the annual Trevor Project awards this week for her continued work with the LGBT community.

The event - which took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles - was attended by a host of stars including Hollywood actress Zoe Saldana, who praised Perry's powerful songs.

She told ET Online: "She unites people through her music ... It sets a very beautiful example that if you are in a position where you have the ability to speak up, speak up for good things, stand by great things and that's what she's doing."

During her acceptance speech Perry stressed how thankful she is for the service the Trevor Project provides:

"Thank you so much for this incredibly humbling award and this honour. I'm really proud to be honoured by the Trevor Project as a Trevor Hero. Honestly though, I think we all know that the real heroes are the folks at the call centres."

She added: "I got to meet them the other day and they took me through the process and it was incredibly inspiring. I asked many questions and learned many things."

The Trevor Project is the leading national organisation providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.