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.
Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn has said that his film Milk is "one of the steps forward" in the battle for gay marriage.
Mr Penn won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay man elected to public office in the United States.
Mr Milk was assassinated less than a year after his election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.
During his acceptance speech at last week's ceremony Mr Penn spoke about gay marriage.
In November voters in California approved a ballot measure denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.
Proposition 8 was in response to a court ruling that gay marriage was legal. The validity of Prop 8 is being challenged in the state Supreme Court.
Between June and November 18,000 same-sex couples got married in California.
Mr Penn said he hoped Milk would change attitudes towards same-sex marriage.
Now he has revealed he wants to take his film to the country's President. "Eventually we are hoping for a White House screening," he said. "I think this film will be one of the steps forward … but I think things are going to go forward with or without it."
"I was once asked to tell the difference between luxury and necessity for a human being. The right to equality for all, including homosexuals, is of course a necessity. That's why this right will become a reality and I think in its own way this film will be part of that."
"The need for tolerance, equality and so on is on the move, and will go on."
President Obama supports civil unions but not same-sex marriage.
On Wednesday the California Supreme Court will hear arguments about the validity of Prop 8.
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.
Milk tells the story of slain gay rights icon Harvey Milk from Academy Award-nominated director Gus Van Sant. Early reviews for the film and especially Sean Penn's portrayal of Milk are very strong.Here is what the entertainment venues are saying:The Hollywood Reporter:“Yes, it’s a biopic, a love story, a civil rights movie and sharp political and social commentary. But it transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope.”Variety:“The quality of the writing, acting and directing generally invests them with the feel of real life and credible personal interchange, rather than of scripted stops along the way from aspiration to triumph to tragedy. And on a project whose greatest danger lay in its potential to come across as agenda-driven agitprop, the filmmakers have crucially infused the story with qualities in very short supply today — gentleness and a humane embrace of all its characters, even of the entirely vilifiable gunman, Dan White.”Milk opens on November 26 in limited release and December 5 wide.For more infomation, visit MilkTheMovie.com.
Sean Penn, who is to star in new film Milk, has shared an on-screen kiss with co-star James Franco.
The actor was reportedly so excited about his first gay kiss that he sent a text message to Madonna about it.
Mr Penn and Madonna were married in 1985 but divorced four years later.
Mr Franco said: "After our kiss, Sean texted Madonna and said, 'I just popped my cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don't know why.'"
Mr Penn also has to kiss Mart Martinez in the film. Of the kiss, Mr Martinez said: "I'm performing, and Sean comes onto the dance floor. He grabs me, and he just slaps the biggest kiss on me.
"It felt like the kiss was forever. I'm like, 'Is he going to stop?' I had to close my eyes, I just couldn't believe it!"
Milk will depict the life of Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official. Milk was assassinated in 1978.(Article from www.pinknews.co.uk)
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.
