Cynthia Nixon and Joy Behar Honored at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York
March 13, 2010
A big thank you to all who attended the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York! We’ll have some great videos and a full recap in the coming days, but for now please enjoy the event photos below and a brief account of the show and a list of winners from tonight’s event.
Cynthia Nixon received the Vito Russo Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Award
The night started with a silent auction conducted by Bryan Batt and Lorna Kelly, followed by the Youth Pride Chorus opening the ceremony with a beautiful performance. The event was hosted by Alan Cumming and had special appearances by Joy Behar and Cynthia Nixon, who were each honored for their efforts in advocating for equality and increasing the visibility of the LGBT community. The ceremony concluded dynamically with a performance from the Tony Award-winning cast of Hair, which received a Special Recognition award.
GLAAD Media Award recipients in 24 of this year’s 32 media categories were announced tonight in New York. Additional awards will be presented at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 17th and in San Francisco on June 5th.
Joy Behar received the Excellence in Media Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York
Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Awards presented on stage, and the individuals that accepted the awards:
• Excellence in Media Award: Joy Behar (Presented by Meredith Vieira)
• Vito Russo Award: Cynthia Nixon (Presented by Michael Patrick King)
• Outstanding Drama Series: Brothers and Sisters (ABC) [Accepted by: show writer, Geoffrey Nauffts]
• Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series: Prayers for Bobby (Lifetime) [Accepted by: Sigourney Weaver and producers Daniel Sladek and Damian Ganczewski]
• Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Why Will Won’t Pledge Allegiance” American Morning (CNN) [Accepted by: Will Phillips and American Morning producer Beth Marengo]
• Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: TIE: “’We Love You, This Won’t Change a Thing’” by John Buccigross (ESPN.com) [Accepted by: John Buccigross and Patrick Burke, brother of Brendan Burke] and “Why Can’t You Just Butch Up? Gay Men, Effeminacy, and Our War with Ourselves” by Brent Hartinger (AfterElton.com) [Accepted by: Brenth Hartinger]
• Special Recognition: Hair [Accepted by: Gavin Creel]
The following is a list of all other award recipients announced at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York:
• Outstanding Film-Limited Release: Little Ashes (Regent Releasing)
• Outstanding Individual Episode: “Pawnee Zoo” Parks and Recreation (NBC)
• Outstanding Daily Drama: One Life to Live (ABC)
• Outstanding Talk Show Episode: “Ellen DeGeneres and Her Wife, Portia de Rossi” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
• Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Uganda Be Kidding Me” (series) The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
• Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Kept From a Dying Partner’s Bedside” by Tara Parker-Pope (The New York Times)
• Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Frank Rich (The New York Times)
• Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage: The New York Times
• Outstanding Magazine Article: “Coming Out in Middle School” by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (The New York Times Magazine)
• Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The Advocate
• Outstanding Comic Book: Detective Comics by Greg Rucka (DC Comics)
• Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway: A Boy and His Soul by Colman Domingo
• Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway: She Likes Girls by Chisa Hutchinson
Spanish-Language award recipients:
• Outstanding Novela: Más Sabe el Diablo (Telemundo)
• Outstanding Daytime Talk Show Episode: “Adopción gay: un tema muy controversial” Paparazzi TV Sensacional (MegaTV)
• Outstanding Talk Show Interview: “Realidades de ser gay en la tercera edad” El Show de Cristina (Univision)
• Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: “En el cuerpo equivocado” Primer Impacto (Univision) & “Damas gracias: Entrevista con Eva Leivas-Andino” Al Rojo Vivo (Telemundo)
• Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Mas familias de dos papás o dos mamas” by Pilar Marrero (La Opinión)
• Outstanding Magazine Article: “Del odio a la justicia” by Lena Hansen (People en Español)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “Saliendo del clóset: Cómo enfrentarlo en familia” by Fernanda Martínez (Univision.com)
Drew Barrymore and Wanda Sykes will be honored at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles
The GLAAD Media Awards continue in Los Angeles on April 17th at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza where GLAAD will honor Golden Globe-winning actress, director and producer, Drew Barrymore, by presenting her with the Vanguard Award; and Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, writer and producer, Wanda Sykes will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. The event will be hosted by Candis Cayne and Wilson Cruz; special guests include, Benjamin Bratt, Bryan Batt, the cast of Glee, Eric Dane, Elizabeth Keener, Jason Lewis, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, Rob Halford and Tom Ford.
The final ceremony takes place in San Francisco on June 5th at the Westin St. Francis honoring Levi Strauss President, Robert Hanson, who will receive the Local Hero Award. The event will be hosted by Bruce Vilanch and stay posted for the announcement of further special guests.
To purchase your ticket to one of the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, please visit http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/tickets. Don’t miss out on these events, purchase your tickets today!
Click here for a complete list of this year’s nominees and join us as we commend them for their excellence in fair, accurate and inclusive media representations of the LGBT community.
Related Posts:Joy Behar to be Honored at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards
February 25, 2010
GLAAD announced today that Daytime Emmy-winner and LGBT advocate Joy Behar will receive the Excellence in Media Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards on March 13, 2010 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.
The Excellence in Media Award is presented to media professionals who advocate for LGBT issues and increase the visibility of the LGBT community. Events will also be held in Los Angeles on April 17, as well as in San Francisco on June 5.
Tony Award Winning actor Alan Cumming will be hosting the New York GLAAD Media Awards, with other guests including Gabourey Sidibe (Precious); Sigourney Weaver (Prayers for Bobby); Bryan Batt (Mad Men); Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip); Rosie Perez (Lipstick Jungle); Sandra Bernhard (Dare); Nigel Barker, Jay Manuel, Isis King (America’s Next Top Model); Jill Zarin (The Real Housewives of New York City). Awards will be presented for the following categories: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series, Outstanding TV Journalism Segment, and Outstanding Digital Journalism Article. A complete list of this year’s 152 nominees is available at www.glaad.org/mediaawards.
Behar will be receiving the Excellence in Media Award for her LGBT advocacy on ABC’s The View as well as her continued representation and increased visibility of LGBT-specific issues on her HLN talk show, The Joy Behar Show, which premiered in 2009. Several episodes of her show have featured not only LGBT issues, but LGBT guests such as Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who discussed his experiences being raised Mormon.
Behar’s first began advocating for LGBT issues when she became a member of The View’s cast, which has won 28 Daytime Emmy Awards. In August 2009, Daytime Emmy awards history was made when Ms. Behar and her fellow co-hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, , Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd were named Outstanding Talk Show Host. This marked the first time in the 36 year history of NATAS that multiple talk show hosts received this honor.
For her consistent inclusion of the LGBT community in her talk show, GLAAD is pleased to present Ms. Behar with the Excellence in Media Award, where she will be joining esteemed past recipients such as Billy Crystal, Juliane Moore, Diane Sawyer, Glenn Close, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Redgrave, Tyra Banks, and Phil Donahue.
Additionally, Cynthia Nixon, out star of Sex and the City and LGBT advocate, will be awarded the Vito Russo Award from Michael Patrick King (Executive Producer, Sex and the City) for promoting equality during GLAAD’s New York City ceremony on March 13 at the Marriott Marquis.
Academy Award-nominee Gabourey Sibide will open the show and introduce the Youth Pride Chorus- a choir of LGBT teens from New York City.
Previously GLAAD announced that Drew Barrymore will receive the Vanguard Award and Wanda Sykes will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in LA on April 17; and Levi Strauss President, Robert Hanson, will receive the Local Hero Award at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, California on June 5.
For a complete list of all the nominees please visit: http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/nominees
To purchase your ticket to one of the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, please visit http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/tickets. Be sure to purchase your tickets for these events that are not be missed.
Related Posts:Drew Barrymore and Wanda Sykes Honored at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards
February 18, 2010
GLAAD announced today that Golden Globe-winning actress, director and producer Drew Barrymore will receive the Vanguard Award; and Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, writer, and producer Wanda Sykes will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards Presented in Los Angeles on April 17, 2010. Events will also be held in New York on March 13 and in San Francisco on June 5.
“When Americans see allies like Drew standing up for fairness for all and hear stories of Wanda and her family, support for full equality grows,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. Actress Candis Cayne and actor Wilson Cruz will host the event in Los Angeles. Other guests and presenters scheduled to attend include: director and designer Tom Ford (A Single Man); Benjamin Bratt (La Mission); openly gay lead singer of Judas Priest, Rob Halford; and GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. More names will be announced. Awards are scheduled to be presented onstage in the following categories include: Outstanding Film – Wide Release, Outstanding Comedy Series, and Outstanding Reality Program.
Drew Barrymore will receive the Vanguard Award, which is presented to media professionals who have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community. “I was born, bred and raised amongst diversity, it has defined me and made me the person I am today,” Barrymore said, “I am honored to be receiving this award.”
In 1995, Barrymore starred in Boys on the Side, written by openly gay filmmaker Don Roos, which won the Outstanding Film Award at the 7th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. In 2009, Barrymore produced He’s Just Not That Into You in which she played a straight reporter at a LGBT newspaper who desperately seeks dating advice from her gay best friends, one of which is played by 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in LA host, Wilson Cruz. Also in 2009, Barrymore undertook the role of “Rosie Goode”, the lesbian daughter of a widower played by Robert De Niro in Everybody’s Fine, nominated for Outstanding Film – Wide Release at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards.
Off the screen Barrymore has always been outspoken in her support of the LGBT community. In May 2009, when the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, Barrymore joined thousands of protestors in the streets of West Hollywood demanding marriage equality, “I am who I am because of the people who influenced me growing up, and many of them were gay,” said Barrymore, “No one has the right to tell anyone what makes a family…this is something that means everything to me.”
For her artistic achievements and for her consistent support of the LGBT community in her personal as well as in her career choices, GLAAD is pleased to present Drew Barrymore with the Vanguard Award, where she will be joining past recipients that include Charlize Theron, Antonio Banderas, Janet Jackson, Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Taylor, Eric McCormack, Liza Minnelli, Kathy Griffin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Wanda Sykes will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented to an openly gay LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights 
for our community.
In 1997 Sykes joined the writing team for the HBO hit The Chris Rock Show. As a performer and writer on the show, Sykes was nominated for three Primetime Emmys and in 1999 won the Emmy for “Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special.” Sykes won three more Emmys for her work on Inside the NFL. Sykes was nominated for another Emmy for her 2006 HBO comedy special. Since 2006, Sykes has played “Barb” on the hit CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine. Although “Barb” and “Christine” are straight, they do get married to one another in an erroneous attempt to keep “Barb” from being deported.
In 2009, Sykes also debuted her own late night talk show on Fox, and premiered her second HBO stand up special, Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me. “I am truly honored to receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award,” said Wanda Sykes, “I greatly appreciate the work that GLAAD continues to do, promoting equality, fair representation and tolerance for our LGBT community. I just pray that I don’t ruin what GLAAD has achieved with all of my shenanigans.”
Outspoken Emmy Award-winning Sykes does just the opposite, as she has spoken out about LGBT issues by appearing in GLSEN’s, “Think Before You Speak” PSAs aimed at curbing homophobic slang in schools, performing at a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, hosting the Human Right’s Campaign Dinner, joining Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour and by serving as a Board Member for the Equality California Institute. About the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008, Sykes
courtesy of SheWired.com
came out at a Stand Out for Equality rally of over 1,000 people in Las Vegas, and announced that she legally married her wife in California. In May 2009, Sykes became the first openly gay and first African American woman to be the featured entertainer for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
For her pioneering decision to live her life as an openly gay woman, for her commitment to activism for LGBT civil rights—and for making us laugh for the past decade, GLAAD is please to present Wanda Sykes with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, joining past recipients including Rufus Wainwright, Melissa Etheridge, Todd Haynes, Bill Condon, Alan Ball, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sir Ian McKellen.
The 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards will be held on April 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Additionally, Cynthia Nixon, out star of Sex and the City and LGBT advocate, will be awarded the Vito Russo Award for promoting equality during GLAAD’s New York City ceremony on March 13 at the Marriott Marquis; and Levi Strauss President, Robert Hanson, will receive the Local Hero Award at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, California on June 5.
For a complete list of all the nominees please visit: http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/nominees
To purchase your ticket to one of the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, please visit http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/21/tickets. Be sure to purchase your tickets for these events that are not be missed.
Mainstream media has this exciting announcement on its radar, illuminating on the vital support of the LGBT community from celebrities and the entertainment industry: LA Times, TV Guide, E! Online and Access Hollywood.
All Tickets are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law**.
Related Posts:GLAAD Congratulates Precious, A Single Man on Academy Award Nominations
February 2, 2010
This morning in Los Angeles, previous Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway joined Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak to announce the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The LGBT-inclusive films Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and A Single Man received a combined 7 Academy Award nominations. Lee Daniels, honored for his work on Precious, became the first openly gay African American director to receive a nomination. GLAAD congratulates the creative teams and casts behind these films.
Precious director Lee Daniels (2nd from left) and star Gabourey Sidibe (2nd from right) joined GLAAD at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
Actor Colin Firth received a nomination for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his turn as George Falconer, a gay man mourning his longtime love, in A Single Man.
Precious is among the leading Academy Award nominees in major categories with 6 nominations:
- Best Motion Picture of the Year
- Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – Gabourey Sidibe
- Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Mo’Nique
- Achievement in Directing – Lee Daniels
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Geoffrey Fletcher
- Achievement in Film Editing – Joe Klotz
In the film Precious, actress Paula Patton portrays out lesbian teacher Ms. Rain whose emotional support assists and inspires the film’s protagonist. In the film, viewers meet Ms. Rain’s partner and hear of the rejection that the loving couple face from their families.
Daniels and Sibide appeared on a panel during GLAAD’s programming at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where they spoke on the theme of “being an outsider.” Video from the panel is available here: http://glaadblog.org/2009/01/21/feel-like-an-outsider/.
Both films are also nominated for Outstanding Film – Wide Release at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The GLAAD Media Awards, a benchmark for the media industry, recognize and honor media for outstanding images of the LGBT community and complement GLAAD’s work to bring LGBT images and stories to Americans.
Click here to read GLAAD’s official release on the Academy Award nominations.
You have just over a month to decide how to vote in your office pools! The 82nd Annual Academy Awards air LIVE on ABC, March 7 at 5:00 PM PST/8:00 PM EST.
Related Posts:COAD Related GLAAD Media Awards Nominees Announced!
January 13, 2010
On Wednesday, January 13, GLAAD announced its nominees for our 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards. Here is a list of all of the COAD-related noms:
Outstanding Film (Wide Release):
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lionsgate Films)
Outstanding Drama Series:
True Blood (HBO)
Outstanding Reality Program:
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Making His Band (MTV)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (LOGO)
Outstanding Talk Show Episode:
“”Hell to Pay – Gay Teen Exorcism” The Tyra Banks Show (The CW)
“Sirdeaner Walker Interview” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine
“Bullied to Death?” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“Uganda Be Kidding Me” (series) The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
Outstanding Newspaper Columnist
Leonard Pitts, Jr. (The Miami Herald)
Rev. Byron Williams (The Oakland Tribune)
Outstanding Magazine Article: 
“Either/Or: Sports, Sex and the Case of Caster Semenya” by Ariel Levy (The New Yorker)
“Trouble in Paradise” by Jeannine Amber (Essence)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article
“On the Road to Refuge” by Pete Muller (ColorLines.com)
Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway
The Brother/Sister Plays by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Watch GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios talk about the important work that GLAAD does and see all of the nominees.
The Media Awards will take place on March 13 in New York, April 17 in Los Angeles and June 5 in San Francisco.
Related Posts:As the World Turns Canceled; To Go Off-Air in September 2010
December 8, 2009
It was announced today that CBS has canceled As the World Turns, the 54-year-old daytime drama that most recently has enthralled gay viewers with the love story of Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer.
Luke and Noah will be signing off the airways next year
When As the World Turns goes off the air in September 2010, daytime television will be losing a leader in gay representation that has been nominated for four GLAAD Media Awards and won the past two years. The beloved characters Luke and Noah (or “Nuke,” as they came to be known) made history when they shared the first ever gay male kiss on daytime television and fans have enjoyed following their growth into daytime’s first gay “supercouple.” Although there will be one less daily drama on the air next year, As the World Turns paved the way for greater inclusion on the daytime programming that remains.
Related Posts:African American LGBT Themed Play opens at NYC’s Famed Public Theater
November 3, 2009
The Brother/Sister Plays, a three-part play addressing sexuality, love, and struggle, is running from now until December 13th at the New York City’s Public Theatre (425 Lafayette St.). The New York Times refers to the playwright, Tarell Alvin McCraney, as “a master of language and dramatic construction.”
The first part, “In the Red and Brown Water,” tells the story of Oya, a promising young runner who must choose between achieving her goals as an athlete and taking care of her terminally ill mother.
“Marcus” is a touching story of a young African American man’s struggle with his sexual orientation in a poverty-stricken Louisiana town. Although Marcus initially has difficulty accepting that he is gay, he learns to love and appreciate himself. The story of he and his friendships with the other gay men in his life is handled with poignancy and undeniable humor.
The Brother/Sister Plays
“The Brothers Size,” which won McCraney The New York Times Outstanding Playwright award, follows Oshoozi Size, a man recently released from prison who is trying to forget his life behind bars and the memory of his romantic relationship with his former cellmate, Elegba.
McCraney is not new to addressing pertinent LGBT issues through the lens of theater. Although only 29, he won the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway. His plays often pull from his experiences as a gay African-American raised in the Louisiana projects. He originally had dreams of becoming a dancer and his critically acclaimed play, Wig Out! centered on the relationships between the men in rival NYC drag ball houses (made legendary by their dance competitions). “Two black men loving one another is a revolutionary act. I wanted to put it on stage – these men, in all forms of color, trying to figure out how to love themselves and each other,” he told TimesOnline in a recent interview.
The Brother/Sister Plays shares the richness and complexity of the African-American gay experience with McCraney’s characteristic brilliance and grace.
Tickets for The Brother/Sister Plays are available on the Public Theatre’s website.
(Entertainment Media Intern, Lauren Mattia, contributed to this blog)
Related Posts:In the Life Presents: “It’s About Time”
September 2, 2009
Throughout September, In the Life will be airing its latest installment, “It’s About Time,” on PBS affiliates nationwide. “It’s About Time” explores what it means to grow old as a gay person in America – how a generation once at the frontlines of establishing the modern LGBT movement finds new challenges living life openly gay in what should be their golden years.
In the Life is the GLAAD Media Award-winning gay and lesbian newsmagazine with guest hosts discussing youth and education, health and AIDS, arts and culture, workplace, relationships and family, and global issues.
View the trailer:
Visit the In the Life website to check your local airdate.
Related Posts:Brokeback Mountain Shirts on Display at Gene Autry Museum
August 20, 2009
GLAAD was present last week at the Autry National Center as the historical cultural institution held a ceremony to induct “the shirts” from Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain into the Center’s collection of movie memorabilia that symbolize the American West. The shirts will be on display in the Gene Autry Imagination Gallery at the Center.
Gregory Hinton addresses the crowd with the iconic shirts in the background.
The intertwined shirts, worn by Jake Gyllenhaal’s character Jack and Heath Ledger’s Ennis, were an unforgettable part of the film. At the film’s heartbreaking end, Ennis embraces them as a symbol of loss and he and Jack’s lasting love for each other. In a speech at the induction ceremony, Tom Gregory, a noted film memorabilia collector who acquired the Brokeback Mountain shirts in a charity auction and generously loaned them to the Autry National Center, called the shirts, “our generation’s Ruby slippers” a reference to Dorothy’s fabled shoes in The Wizard of Oz. Brokeback Mountain was a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 2005, winning Outstanding Film-Wide Release at the 2006 GLAAD Media Awards and the 2006 Academy Award for Directing, Original Music and Original Screenplay.
In a news release issued from the Autry National Center, the Center noted, “The iconic shirts are at the center of the Contemporary Westerns case in order to highlight Brokeback Mountain’s significance in keeping the Western genre alive and thriving in the new millennium, and also to spotlight the LGBT community’s struggle for safety and inclusion in the rural, Western communities from where many originate yet often feel forced to abandon.”
The shirts will be featured alongside Western film memorabilia from films that define the genre, like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, director John Ford and John Wayne’s Stagecoach, Young Guns and Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. Jeffrey Richardson, the Center’s Assistant Curator of Film and Popular Culture remarked that for younger audiences, Brokeback Mountain is the first Western they have ever seen. This means that for those audiences, the presence of LGBT characters and the Western are indelibly linked, imbedding our stories into the fabric of the culture of the American West.
Heath Ledger as Ennis in Brokeback Mountain
The Autry National Center is visited by thousands and hosts student groups from around the country. It is named for Gene Autry, the writer of legendary songs “Back in the Saddle Again” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” who was dubbed the “singing cowboy” in the 1930s and appeared in over 93 films and recorded over 650 songs before his death in 1998. Jackie Autry, his widow and Chairman of the Autry Center, was on hand to celebrate the occasion. Also present were members of the International Gay Rodeo Association, comprised of regions from around the world, who promote the LGBT country western lifestyle.
Last week’s induction ceremony was the brainchild of author and filmmaker, Gregory Hinton. It was Hinton who tracked down Tom Gregory in January, 2009 to inquire about the shirts. With Hinton’s persistence and dedication, he persuaded both Gregory and the Center’s Staff to bring the shirts to the Center for display.
In the wake of enthusiasm about the event, the Center along with Hinton, are planning upcoming panels on media images of gays in the West. Throughout the rest of the year, GLAAD will provide programming support for future panels designed to raise the profile of gays in the historic West and contemporary Western culture and ask provoking questions like one Hinton posed at the ceremony, “Where are the Ennis and Jacks of today?”
Related Posts:PBS’ In the Life Presents: “Coming Together”
August 6, 2009
Throughout this month, PBS‘ In the Life will be airing its conclusion to its Summer of Stonewall series celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots with “Coming Together,” a look at how LGBT culture has shaped and inspired the movement for equality.
In the Life is the GLAAD Media Award-winning gay and lesbian newsmagazine with guest hosts discussing youth and education, health and AIDS, arts and culture, workplace, relationships and family, and global issues. “Coming Together” will feature three segments:
Credited as the first Off-Off-Broadway theatre, CAFFE CINO began in 1958 as a Greenwich Village coffee house with a tiny makeshift stage. This Bohemian refuge was home to burgeoning gay playwrights and performers, who, inspired by its owner, Joe Cino, were liberated to create their most experimental and daring works of self-expression.
In A CONVERSATION WITH… writers Edmund White and Doric Wilson share first hand accounts of the Stonewall Riots, and discuss how bearing witness to the uprising impacted their work and shaped their politics.
Capping off the Summer of Stonewall series, this episode’s REAL TO REEL highlights Crayton Robey’s 2009 documentary “Making the Boys,” a tribute to Mart Crowley’s 1968 play and William Friedkin’s subsequent film adaptation of the classic story that swept gay and straight audiences alike, The Boys in the Band.
“Coming Together” began airing this past weekend and will be available for streaming or download throughout August on the In the Life website. The website also has local airtimes available.
Trailer:
Related Posts:Attention Chicago-Area: The Alexandra Billings Story Airs Tonight
June 19, 2009
Premiering tonight on Chicago’s PBS affiliate WTTW is a new documentary about the extraordinary life of transgender actress Alexandra Billings.
Billings is perhaps best known for appearing in the 2006 GLAAD Media Award-winning episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Where the Boys Are,” as a transgender patient with breast cancer. But there is much more to this extraordinary woman’s story.
The documentary Schoolboy to Showgirl: The Alexandra Billings Story, presented by Out and Proud in Chicago, will air tonight at 8:30 pm. This 30-minute program will detail the extraordinary life and career of transgender actress and singer, Alexandra Billings. Narrated by poet and performer Cin Salach, Billings delves deep into her harrowing past to honestly and openly discusses her survival through childhood in suburban Chicago, addiction, AIDS, a suicide attempt, and ignorance.
With the addition of rare footage and candid interviews, the audience will really be able to see Billings transition not only from, male to female, but also from impersonation clubs to mainstream theater, and finally to Hollywood. What it means to transition today and the history of the drag movement are also touched upon.
Schoolboy to Showgirl: The Alexandra Billings Story AIRDATES
WTTW-Channel 11
Friday, June 19 at 8:30pm
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 2am
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4am
WTTW Prime (Comcast 243 or Channel 11.2)
Sunday, June 21 at 7pm
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 1:30am
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 7am
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 4pm
LA Film Festival Screening: Hollywood, Je T’aime Sunday, June 21
June 15, 2009
Attention LA based LGBT film fans! If you’re free on Sunday, June 21 at 7:00 PM, you should check out Hollywood, Je T’aime, a fantastic new film screening at Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival.
Chad Allen (l.) and Eric Debets (r.) star in "Hollywood, Je T'aime"
Recent GLAAD Media Award honoree Chad Allen co-stars in this romantic tale of a man who escapes a wintery Paris in search of his California dreams, finding romance and friendship with the drag queens and local gays of the “real” Hollywood. GLAAD is presenting this screening at the LAFF and Entertainment Media Manager Jonathan Rosales will say a few words before the film.
Hollywood, Je T’aime
Sunday, June 21, 7:00 PM, Majestic Crest
Watch the trailer here
Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Los Angeles Times, showcases the best of American and international cinema. The Festival is held in the heart of Westwood Village.
For passes, tickets and full Festival details, please call
1.866.FilmFest or visit www.LAFilmFest.com
Related Posts:
Angie Zapata’s Story Honored by Family and GLAAD
April 29, 2009
In the midst of the Angie Zapata murder trial in Greeley, Colo., which came to a conclusion last week with the sentencing of Allen Andrade, I was able to travel with Angie’s sisters Monica and Stephanie – along with their close family friend Tina Blea – from Colorado to Los Angeles for the GLAAD Media Awards.
Univision’s Aqui y Ahora had been nominated for two segments on Angie’s story in the Spanish Language Newsmagazine Category. As Monica Trasandes, GLAAD’s Director of Spanish Language Media, wrote last week, when the winner was announced, Monica Zapata joined Aqui y Ahora producer Belisa Morillo onstage to accept the award.
Monica Zapata and Aqui y Ahora producer Belissa Morillo at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.
While we were held over, I had the opportunity, for the first time, to have a very casual conversation with Monica, Stephanie and Tina. Previously we had talked many times, but they were almost always focused conversations about our work with the media around Angie’s life and death.
What has become abundantly clear to me with every conversation I have with this remarkable family is how much they love Angie – and how much they stick together.
Over dinner they remarked that their trip to Los Angeles for the GLAAD Media Awards was particularly significant to them because of Angie. “You know, this was Angie’s dream. She dreamed of going away, being famous, and having her picture everywhere. She would have loved to take this trip,” they told me. They said that Angie dreamed big, and they feel that their first trip to LA was an opportunity to honor her dreams.
Monica Zapata with GLAAD Senior Media Field Strategist Adam Bass in Greeley, Colo.
They also told me that Angie’s favorite movie was A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story, which won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Television Movie in 2007. In life, Angie saw a lot of similarities between herself and Gwen. She used to make her family watch the movie over and over with her.
It is devastating that now Gwen and Angie share more than the same life story – but that they were both victims of anti-transgender violence.
In court on the day before she arrived in L.A., Monica recounted that she used to tell Angie to be safe “every day.” She worried about the cruelty that exists in the world against transgender people.
At the event, she stood up while accepting the award and said these words to the audience:
“My family, some who are with me here tonight, always loved and supported Angie. We understood that she was born in a boy’s body but she was a woman. So many transgender people do not receive that love, acceptance and support.
I would like to thank the reporter and producers of the Aqui y Ahora segment for treating Angie and her story with so much respect. And for telling her story to Latino audiences.
Thank you to GLAAD for bringing us here, for recognizing Angie’s story and for helping us with the trial, and more. To all of you here tonight, I would like to say exactly what I would tell Angie if she was here. Be yourself and be proud of who you are. No tengas verguenza. Eres una buena persona (Don’t be ashamed, you are a good person.)”
You can also watch a video of producer Belissa Morillo accepting the award for the Aqui y Ahora segments as well as Monica’s speech below:
The resolve of seeing this wonderful family stand up and demand dignity is inspiring. It is my hope, that as this family continues to speak up they can, as Monica implores people, “change the world for Angie.”
The 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards – Los Angeles
April 23, 2009
A big thank you to everyone who attended the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards presented by IBM in Los Angeles on April 18! 1,100 local youth and more than 1,500 professionals attended the event, presented by ABSOLUT® VODKA, to watch GLAAD honor outstanding representations of LGBT people in media.
The evening began with a reception at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live where guests bid on silent auction items from more than 30 donors. At the same time, the red carpet stretched over 96 feet and welcomed over 50 media outlets to photograph and interview special guests and raise visibility of A-list celebrities supporting our community.
Media outlets including The New York Times, USA Today and Reuters wrote about the winners and honorees. Leading entertainment shows including Access Hollywood and The Insider interviewed special guests including Ellen DeGeneres, Teri Hatcher and Geroge Takei.
Not only did the celebrities answer questions about marriage equality, but they also dished on their shows and the Desperate Housewives ladies in attendance (Teri Hatcher, Brenda Strong, Andrea Bowen) spoke out about the dearly departed Edie Britt. LGBT media outlets including The Advocate, AfterEllen.com, FH Out Front, Greg in Hollywood and OUTTAKE also brought the event to readers.
Photos from the night ran across the world and showed an array of celebrities including Jessica Alba, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Paul James (GREEK) wearing White Knots in support of marriage equality.
Bebe Zahara Benet, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo, won my best dressed of the night award for her gorgeous sequined gown complete with feathers and a leopard print wrap.
The 20th Annual Media Awards started with a welcome from host Miss Coco Peru and continued with an opening montage of media images from 2008 that moved the crowd from laughter to tears with clips from television and film.
LGBT advocate Cleve Jones and Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk, Dustin Lance Black, took to the stage to present the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Bishop Gene Robinson. Robinson gave a special shout-out to the youth in the audience and brought the audience to its feet with his speech:
“It is such an honor to be here, and to be honored by the Board of GLAAD….To have you say thanks in this way just means the world to me,” Robinson said accepting his award. Speaking of the LGBT movement, Robinson continued, “We need to be in this for the long haul…Just because we achieved civil rights in the sixties for African Americans, it doesn’t mean racism is gone. Because we achieved rights for women in the seventies, it doesn’t mean sexism is gone….But we can stay in this fight because we know how it’s is going to end. This is going to end with full equality for LGBT people in our churches and in society. I have no doubt of it.”
Bill Paxton and Teri Hatcher presented Julia Louis-Dreyfus (wearing a dress that can only be described as GLAAD orange! and Megan Mullally with the award for Outstanding Individual Television Episode for The New Adventures of Old Christine. Paxton broke into an impromptu tap dance backstage after the Award and Julia Louis-Dreyfus told me how great it was to work with out comedian Wanda Sykes.
Broadway hunk and OUT100 Entertainer of the Year Cheyenne Jackson took to the stage with a piano for a moving performance of “A Change is Gonna Come,” wearing a perfectly fitted navy blue suit.
Alan Cumming presented a Special Recognition Award to The L Word which completed its sixth and final season on Showtime in March. After being stuck in traffic and missing the red carpet cast members Leisha Hailey and Katherin Moenning thankfully arrived in time to join show creator Ilene Chaiken and cast member Jennifer Beals to accept the award.
In her remarks, Chaiken commented on the continuing need to advocate for the inclusion of LGBT characters in the media. “At this moment in history, when marriage equality is virtually inevitable and maybe even imminent, when we’ve welcomed new LGBT civil rights legislation in Iowa, Colorado, Washington D.C., New Hampshire and soon New York…how can it be that LGBT people – after years of slow but promising momentum – have careened backwards in terms of representation in mainstream popular entertainment media?” Chaiken said.
Chaiken continued, “GLAAD has been working vigilantly to ensure that the defamation of LGBT people does not go unchecked. GLAAD’s been working to ensure that our lives are visible in the news and in the media. GLAAD’s work is vital and critical to helping us to achieve the milestones that are lifting LGBT people to our rightful place of full, unfettered equality. Thank you, GLAAD. And thank you Showtime, for six wonderful years…Thanks for breaking ground and for having the courage of your convictions. Now let’s do it again. Let’s do it more. Let’s do it often. Let’s do it always.”
Miss Coco Peru joined the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, for a performance of Prop 8: The Musical, which received a Special Recognition Award. The hysterical rendition included one member wearing a recreation of Aretha Franklin’s infamous hat from President Obama’s inauguration. According to him, there’s a store in downtown LA that has dozens to purchase!
T.R. Knight presented the Vanguard Award to Kathy Griffin who accepted the award in a bikini after parading around the green room to show off her beach body. “This is a thrill and an honor and an awesome night,” Griffin said in her acceptance speech. “You guys have been so good to me. I appreciate you, I get you, I love you, and I’ll keep making you laugh as long as you’ll let me! Thank you!”
The show closed with another standing ovation for legend Jennifer Holliday who performed “And I’m Telling You.”
After the show, I escorted Dana Delaney of Desperate Housewives, T.R. Knight of Grey’s Anatomy and Kate Walsh of Private Practice to kick off the young adult party. Over 1000 youth partied in the Nokia Theatre and took photos with these celebrities. Later on, Dustin Lance Black, Katelynn Cusanelli from The Real World Brooklyn, and the casts of Noah’s Arc and Shelter stopped by to join the young adult party.
The VIP dinner, catered by Wolfgang Puck, was held outside the Nokia Theatre and included live auction items from Visit London, Tiffany & Co., Zoom Vacations and the Herb Ritts Foundation.
After the dinner the room transformed into the ABSOLUT Mango Lounge for an after party sponsored by Only Vegas. Only Vegas supplied boas and props for attendees to dance the night away and take photos in the Fiji Water photo booth.
GLAAD thanks over 100 corporate partners for their generous support in making the event a great success and a night to remember.
We hope to see you at the GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco on May 9 where we are honoring Chad Allen and Dustin Lance Black. Additional talent includes Gabrielle Christian & Mandy Musgrave from South of Nowhere, Michelle Clunie, Wilson Cruz, Robert Gant, Suze Orman Eduardo Xol, and Judge David Young.
Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in Los Angeles. Previously awards were presented in New York at the Marriot Marquis on March 28.
- Vanguard Award: Kathy Griffin (presented by T.R. Knight)
- Stephen F. Kolzak Award: The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson (presented by Dustin Lance Black and Cleve Jones)
- Special Recognition: The L Word (Showtime) [Accepted by: show creator Ilene Chaiken, with Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey]
- Special Recognition: Prop 8: The Musical (FunnyorDie.com) [Accepted by: director Adam Shankman]
- Outstanding Film – Wide Release: Milk (Focus Features) [Accepted by: director Gus Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks]
- Outstanding Comedy Series: Desperate Housewives (ABC) [Accepted by: show creator Marc Cherry, Teri Hatcher, Dana Delaney, Kyle MacLachlan, Tuc Watkins, Kevin Rahm, Andrea Bowen and Brenda Strong]
- Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without an LGBT character): “Unidentified Funk” The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) [Accepted by: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally, Clark Gregg, and show creator Kari Lizer]
- Outstanding Talk Show Episode: “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated) [Accepted by: Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi]
- Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “A juzgar por las apariencias” y “En otro cuerpo” Aquí y Ahora (Univision) [Accepted by: Univision producer Belissa Morillo and Monica Zapata, sister of murdered transgender teenager Angie Zapata]
Aqui y Ahora Recibe Premio GLAAD / Aqui y Ahora Receives GLAAD Media Award
April 21, 2009
Jessica Alba, who presented the GLAAD Media Award for best film, wide release
One of the most amazing moments in a great night at the GLAAD Media Awards this Saturday occurred when the award for Best News Magazine in Spanish Language Media was presented to Aqui y Ahora. The winning segment told the story of Angie Zapata, a young transgender woman who was murdered in Greeley, Colorado last year. Featured prominently in the story was Monica Zapata, Angie’s sister.
GLAAD brought Monica to Los Angeles, where she accepted the award, along with producer Belissa Morillo. At GLAAD, we are so proud of people like Monica and other members of the Zapata family, who not only speak out in memory of their loved one, but become fierce and incredibly important allies to our community.
We’re also so proud of the work of journalists like the reporters and producers of Aqui y Ahora – not to mentoin the executives who make their work possible – for telling these important stories and being respectful and inclusive of our community while meeting high standards of journalistic integrity and excellence. All of the segments in this category and, indeed, in all of our Spanish-language categories were of exceptionally high quality and show real progress in the way that media is telling LGBT stories en español.
For more on the awards, please visit glaad.org.
Producer Belissa Morillo and Monica Zapata, sister of murdered transgender teenager Angie Zapata, accepted the award for Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism – Newsmagazine
Unos de los momentos mas especiales en Los Premios GLAAD este sábado ocurrió cuando se presentó el Premio GLAAD por Mejor Segmento Televisivo de Revista Periodística, en Español a Aqui y Ahora. El segmento contó la historia de Angie Zapata, una joven transgénero quien fue asesinada en Greeley Colorado. Una importante parte de este segmento fue la entrevista con la hermana de Angie, Monica Zapata.
El sábado, GLAAD trajo a Monica a Los Angeles donde ella aceptó el premio, al lado de productora Belissa Morillo. Nosotros en GLAAD estamos tan orgullosos de personas como Monica (y el resto de la familia de Angie) quienes no solo hablan de la memoria de su ser querido pero tambien son fuertes aliados de todos nosotros en la comunidad.
También estamos orgullosos de periodistas y productores del equipo de Aqui y Ahora, y de los ejecutivos quienes hacen este trabajo posible, por crear historias que son excelentes en su periodismo y tambien tratan a nuestra comunidad de manera inclusiva y respetuosa.
Todos los segmentos en esta categoría, e incluso en todas las categorias de este año, eran de calidad excepcional y muestran verdadero progreso en la manera que los medios cuentan historias LGBT en español.
Para saber más sobre los Premios GLAAD, por favor visite a glaad.org.
