The 2009 GLAAD Media Awards Are Handed Out
Celebs from the big screen, the small screen, the stage and more made their way out to the Nokia Theatre here in downtown Los Angeles, CA yesterday evening to attend and participate in the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards … which honors achievement in GLBT visibility in the media. Here are a few photos from the awards show itself and some info from the glitzy ceremony:
Civil rights group GLAAD honored the movie “Milk” and singled-out Reverend Gene Robinson and comedian Kathy Griffin for their work at a Saturday night gala highlighting issues such as gay marriage and equality. Talk program “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was given a GLAAD Media Award for its episode “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day,” covering DeGeneres’ wedding to actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres dedicated the honor to Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11 year-old Massachusetts boy who killed himself earlier this month because school kids bullied him and called him “gay.” “In my opinion, we are not fighting for gay rights, we are fighting for equal rights,” DeGeneres told the black tie crowd at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater. The 2009 awards marked the 20th year that films, TV shows, performers and others have been honored by GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “Milk,” about slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, was named best film. “Desperate Housewives” was chosen best TV comedy, and “Brothers and Sisters” was named top TV drama. GLAAD President Neil Giuliano spoke to the audience about the impact TV shows such as “The L Word” and movies like “Brokeback Mountain” have had on introducing audiences to all sorts of lesbian and gay characters and issues they face. Giuliano touched on marriage and said that despite setbacks like the passage of California’s Proposition 8 which denied gay men and women the right to marry in that state, progress has been made in other states where gay weddings are now legal. “As we learned in Iowa and Vermont, ignorance and hate does not stop the march of social justice,” Giuliano said. While many of the night’s speeches focused on social and political issues — as expected for the activist group — the night also featured a lot of comedy and music. Comedian Kathy Griffin accepted the Vanguard Award for her work in the gay community. She dressed in a bikini with a white, gay marriage ribbon, pinned to the bottom. The makers of video sensation “Prop 8: The Musical,” a parody of the conservative campaign backing Proposition 8, were singled-out with a special recognition award, and the musical number was performed on stage. The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal church, was given an honorary award for his work as a religious leader and activist. Last month, GLAAD held a ceremony in New York City where it handed out other media awards. A similar event is planned for May in San Francisco.
I really love that the GLAAD Media Awards are handed out in LA, NY and San Francisco … issues of GLBT visibility are too large for just one ceremony. Much love and congrats to all the folks who work tireless to help foster and spread positive images of the gay community, pushing the boundaries of discrimination further and further away. The work is long and hard and nowhere near complete … until justice and equality for all is achieved in this country, the work carries on. Again, congrats to those folks who keep on keepin’ on. Click HERE for a full list of award winners from the LA portion of the GLAAD Media Awards. My dear friend Darion was able to attend the GLAAD Media Awards yesterday and he managed to get a fun photo with one of his fave celebs:
Don’t they look great? Kathy Griffin looks stunning. Trust me, Darion was geeked beyond words. Woot!!
Tags: Dustin Lance Black, Ellen DeGeneres, George Takei, Kathy Griffin, Nichelle Nichols, Portia de Rossi, T.R. Knight, The GLAAD Media Awards
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April 19th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Wow, thank you for posting this Trent, and for bringing awarness about LGBT issues and all the great work GLAAD does!
Congrats to Kathy Griffin and all others
It sems like a great event, I wish I could have been there!!
April 19th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I have no problem with gay poeple but a show like this is just wrong. People always talk about equal rights and I’m all for them. But a show like this is only for gay’s they single out everyone eles and then complain that they get singled out. I think there be the Strait awards for just strait people. or would that be wrong cause it doesn’t inculed others?
April 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
“…all the folks who work tireless to help foster and spread positive images of the gay community, pushing the boundaries of discrimination further and further away.”
In my opinion, that includes you Trent!
I don’t know if GLAAD has a web category or anything like that, but if they did, and if I could vote, I would totally vote Pink!
April 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
@Kent — aww, you’re too kind. there are other sites that do an amazing job of raising GLBT visibility … i just do a little. but thank you very much for your comments :)
April 19th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I get that they’re going for visability by having three awards show in different cities….but are different award categories given at each? Great quote from Ellen btw.
April 19th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Love Kathy and love these awards.
April 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
thanks for the post! great pics!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Pat – Despite being on for 6/7 seasons, having obsessed fans from all around the world and changing countless lives, The L Word was flat out ignored by ’straight’ awards … When you see some mediocre shows (including reality shows) receiving Emmy’s and a show like The L Word not even get mentioned … that is why we require ‘gay’ awards.