Recognizing the entertainment industry's impact on same-sex equality issues, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has announced its nominees for the group's 21st annual Media Awards, to be held March 13th in New York, April 17th in Los Angeles and June 5th in San Francisco.
AMC's acclaimed period drama Mad Men HBO's hit vampire show True Blood and ABC's new generational comedy Modern Family, along with singers Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert, are among the top contenders.
GLAAD also announced that Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon, who made headlines by publicly discussing her long-term relationship with a woman, will be honored with the Vito Russo Award at the New York ceremony. The award, named after founding GLAAD member and author of The Celluloid Closet, is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has helped promote equal rights.
All told, GLAAD announced 116 nominees in 24 English-language categories and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories. In the competitive categories, cable networks earned 23 nominations, while broadcast networks pulled in 17.
For a complete list of the nominees, click on this link: http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards.
Lesbian drama The L Word, hit movie Milk and Desperate Housewives all picked up major honours at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Comedienne Kathy Griffin was presented with the Vanguard Award and Ellen DeGeneres was honoured with the Outstanding Talk Show Episode for the program she dedicated to her same sex marriage to actress Portia De Rossi.
The L Word won a Special Recognition prize, Milk was named Outstanding Film and Desperate Housewives Outstanding Comedy Series.
The Outstanding Drama Series honour went to Brothers & Sisters.
With Emmys galore already to her name, Ellen DeGeneres can now add another trophy to her shelf – this one relevant to her personal life.
"Love comes in lots of different forms," said DeGeneres, 51, with her wife, Portia de Rossi, 36, standing beside her as the crowd cheered at Saturday's 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles. "I am flabbergasted by the fact that we're still trying to fight," she added. "I am not trying to fight for gay rights – I am trying to fight for equal rights."
The TV host's award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation League, at the Nokia Theater, was for the 2008 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show on which Ellen discussed her wedding day. Speaking onstage, DeGeneres said, "Portia, I love you."
Others recognized Saturday included an outstanding film award to Milk, a Vanguard Award for Kathy Griffin to her commitment to the gay community, and a best-TV-comedy-series trophy to Desperate Housewives that was accepted by show creator Marc Cherry, actresses Dana Delany and Teri Hatcher and other cast members.
Kathy Griffin Jokes
On the red carpet before the ceremony, Kathy Griffin, 48, told PEOPLE, "I think I’m getting an award for being offensive and fabulous. If there is a gay army, I am their warrior princess. Over the years, the audience has been wonderful to me."
Griffin, known for taking no prisoners during her candid comedy riffs, quipped onstage that no celebrity would agree to present her with her award. She declared, "Everybody turned it down" – including Ryan Seacrest.
"This year, I think Susan got to have a lot of fun with some of the gay character storylines," Teri Hatcher, 44, told PEOPLE of her character on Desperate Housewives. "I do like when Swoosie Kurtz came on and played the gay boss of Susan. I thought it was emotional. That character got to show her struggle and vulnerability."
New Adventures of Old Christine was also cited for an episode on which Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the girlfriend of Wanda Sykes. "I'm so delighted," Louis-Dreyfus, 48, told PEOPLE, "they noticed what we were doing."
Best picture Oscar nominee "Milk" picked up another awards nod Wednesday as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced nominations for its 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards.
"Milk," from Focus Features, the specialty division of Universal Pictures, was included in GLAAD's outstanding film in wide release category. It will compete with Miramax's "Brideshead Revisited," Columbia's "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," Warner Bros.' "RocknRolla" and the Weinstein Co.'s "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
Among television contenders, the nominees for outstanding drama series are ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," Showtime's "The L Word," The N's "South of Nowhere," BBC America's "Torchwood" and HBO's "True Blood."
The comedy series nominees are ABC's "Desperate Housewives," ABC Family's "Greek," the CW's "Reaper," BBC America's "Skins" and ABC's "Ugly Betty."
The awards honor media representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in 26 English-language and 15 Spanish-language categories. They will be presented at a series of dinners: March 28 at the Marriott Marquis in New York, April 18 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles and May 9 at the Hilton San Francisco.
In New York, special honorees will include Tyra Banks, set to receive the Excellence in Media Award, and Suze Orman, receiving the Vito Russo Award. Honorees for Los Angeles and San Francisco will be announced later.
Special recognition awards will be presented to "The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later: The Lasting Legacy of Matthew Shepard," a two-hour documentary broadcast on Sirius XM Radio, and to Lucia Mendez, an actress and singer who campaigned to bring awareness to the issue of LGBT teen suicide.
Recognizing the entertainment industry's impact on same-sex equality issues, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has announced its nominees for the group's 21st annual Media Awards, to be held March 13th in New York, April 17th in Los Angeles and June 5th in San Francisco.
