On The GLAAD Media Awards Red Carpet

The GLAAD Media Awards were held at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan this weekend and Marti Cummings Gould worked the red carpet, interviewing Sam Champion, Ross Matthews, Laverne Cox, and honorees Kelly Ripa and Lynda Carter.

GLAAD Unveils Media Awards Nominees

Via press release:

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBT community and issues that build support for equality.

Among the nominees: Amazon Instant Video's smash hit Transparent; ABC's How to Get Away with Murder; HBO's Game of Thrones, Looking, and The Normal Heart; Academy Award nominee The Imitation Game and Golden Globe nominee Pride; Love is Strange, starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina; Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word and True Trans with Laura Jane Grace, both documentaries about transgender people; Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel for Nick News with Linda Ellerbee and Good Luck Charlie respectively; To Russia with Love, Oprah Prime, and Outsports.com for interviews with out athletes; MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry; and Sam Smith for his critically acclaimed album In the Lonely Hour.

This year, GLAAD expanded the Outstanding Comedy Series and Drama Series categories from five nominees to a maximum of 10 nominees each. In 2005, GLAAD considered for nomination eight comedy series and 17 drama series with regular LGBT characters. This year, the pool of shows with regular LGBT characters considered for nomination included 52 comedy series and 83 drama series. With over 100 shows including LGBT characters as part of the cast, the number of shows worthy of nomination has also increased. Expanding the number of nominees in these two categories allows GLAAD to recognize more of these outstanding series.

The full list pf nominees is here.

George Takei Honored At GLAAD Awards

From his speech:

"As long as LGBT people can be fired from their job for simply being who they are, our work isn’t done yet. As long as young people are kicked out of their families just for being who they are, our work is not done yet. As long as people are being bullied into feeling that their lives are so hopeless that they are driven to self-destructive acts, our work is not done. Working in concert with GLAAD, with its history of achievement and the legacy of Vito Russo, we will make this a better world, a more equal society of all people…I accept the GLAAD Vito Russo Award with pride, and with humility and with resolve."

Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

At last night's GLAAD Media Awards in Manhattan:

Grammy Award-winning country sensation Kacey Musgraves made history when she became the first country artist to perform at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York on Saturday. Musgraves has been a vocal ally to the LGBT community and used her voice as a 2013 Spirit Day Ambassador to show support for LGBT youth and put an end to anti-LGBT bullying. Her hit single "Follow Your Arrow" encourages listeners to "say what you think" and "love who you love" and "kiss lots of boys / or kiss lots of girls / if that's something you're into."

Tweet Of The Day - George Takei

Inspired by The Ellen DeGeneres Show. From the GLAAD Media Awards with Kylie Minogue, Kacey Musgraves and Team Al... pic.twitter.com/TT2S1DDULC
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 4, 2014

NEW YORK CITY: Kylie Minogue Leads Audience Singalong At GLAAD Awards

I'll have tons of photos tomorrow. You can almost hear me singing. Except for the high parts.

Kylie Minogue To Perform At GLAAD Awards, George Takei To Be Honored

Kylie Minogue will perform at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City on May 3rd.  The main honoree that night will be George Takei.

Takei will receive GLAAD's Vito Russo Award, which is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Previous Vito Russo honorees include Anderson Cooper, Ricky Martin, Rosie O'Donnell, Alan Cumming, Cynthia Nixon, Nathan Lane, Cherry Jones, Elton John, k.d. lang, and Tom Ford. Over his career, the actor, advocate, social media star and author has remained one of the most outspoken LGBT voices in Hollywood. Since coming out in 2005, he has spoken out on issues including marriage equality, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), so-called "ex-gay therapy" and more. He has worked closely with GLAAD to bring equality to the Boy Scouts and supported GLAAD's Spirit Day campaign to show support for LGBT youth and end anti-LGBT bullying. To Be Takei, a documentary about Takei's life and career, premiered at Sundance in January and is scheduled for a theatrical release this summer.

GLAAD has launched a contest in which the winner will be flown to New York City and seated with Takei at the event.

GLAAD To Honor Bill Clinton

GLAAD announced today that they will honor Bill Clinton later this month at their Media Awards in Los Angeles.  Via press release:

Bill Clinton will receive GLAAD's first Advocate for Change Award during the event. In 2011, Clinton advocated for marriage equality in New York, stating that "for more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.” In 2012, he joined the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families in working against North Carolina's proposed Amendment One to ban marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Most recently, he called for the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

During his administration, Clinton became the first U.S. President to appoint out gay and lesbian people to all levels of government. He appointed more than 150 including James Hormel as America's first openly gay ambassador. During the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, his administration convened the first White House Conference on the epidemic, created the national AIDS Policy Coordinator post, and expanded funding for research. In 2002, his Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) began as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in the developing world.

At The GLAAD Media Awards

Loyal JMG photographer Dr. Jeff snapped over 650 photos on the GLAAD Media Awards red carpet and afterwards and he's edited that down to a more user-friendly 130 shots. Click through for lots of heroes to the movement like Chris Kluwe, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Peter Staley, and many others. Kitchen Cousins!

NEW YORK CITY: Madonna Honors Anderson Cooper At GLAAD Media Awards

Dressed as a Boy Scout, last night Madonna appeared at the GLAAD Media Awards to honor Anderson Cooper with the Vito Russo Award. Her speech touched on bullying, LGBT suicide, the gay men arrested at her concert in Russia, Pussy Riot, and Iran's gay death penalty.  "I don't know about you, but I can't take this shit anymore."  My loyal photographer Dr. Jeff worked the event's red carpet and later I'll have a slideshow of the big name attendees. (Spoiler: I met Chris Kluwe!) 


NOTE: Cooper's acceptance speech was filmed by my pal, Boy Culture blogger Matt Rettenmund.

GLAAD Bans NY Post From Event

The 2013 GLAAD Media Awards take place in Manhattan on Saturday, where Madonna will present Anderson Cooper with the Vito Russo Award.  Not in attendance will be the New York Post, whose press pass request has been denied due to the paper's history of nasty references to transgender people. GLAAD writes:

GLAAD was founded in 1985 to challenge The New York Post's blatantly anti-gay coverage of the HIV/AIDS crisis. More than 27 years later, the paper continues to defame the LGBT community with its sensational framing of transgender stories and its disgraceful practice of referring to transgender people with vulgar slurs. "The Post has been digging its feet in the ground for too long on this issue," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Transgender people, particularly those who are victims of crime, deserve more than the vile slurs and underhanded 'jokes' with which the Post describes them. Until this paper changes its ways and apologizes for the damage done, GLAAD has no interest in supporting their work."

Just last week a Post headline used the word "she-male" to describe the victim of an assault by a New York City fireman.

Andrew Sullivan Up For GLAAD Award

GLAAD today announced the nominations for its 2013 Media Awards, which covers television, movies, print, and digital journalism.  Among the nominees, perhaps surprisingly, is Andrew Sullivan for his Newsweek cover article on President Obama, The First Gay President.

GLAAD ticks off some other notables via press release:

Among the nominees: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman and Emma Watson; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, starring Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Wilkinson; Cloud Atlas, starring Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy; NBC's new hit shows The New Normal and Smash; Glee, Modern Family; the documentary How to Survive a Plague; The Amazing Race with the Fabulous Beekman Boys; an interview with Bishop Gene Robinson on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Oprah's hour-long visit with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka; CNN's Anderson Cooper 360; MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry; and Frank Ocean for his Channel Orange album. The list also includes GLAAD's first nomination for a PG-rated animated film, ParaNorman, which also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. Spanish-language nominees include Titulares Telemundo for their interview with openly gay boxer Orlando Cruz, news programs Primer Impacto and Encuentro, and People en Español "Images and stories from the LGBT community continue to push support for equality to historic levels," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "This year's nominees enlighten and entertain, but also reflect a new American landscape where a growing majority accept and value their LGBT family, colleagues and friends. Now more than ever, viewers not only accept gay and transgender characters and plot lines, they expect them — just as they both accept and expect LGBT people to be a valuable part of their everyday lives."

Closer to home, the five nominees for Outstanding Blog are The New Civil Rights Movement, Autostraddle, Towleroad, Rod 2.0., and Blac(K)ademic.  Congrats to all!

See the full list of nominees in all categories.