Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz and Kerry Washington -- stars of the new ABC hit TV show Scandal -- presented the Golden Gate Award to straight ally and Grey’s Anatomy creator/producer Shonda Rhimes last night at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco, presented nationally by Ketel One and Wells Fargo, and locally by Southwest Airlines. The Golden Gate Award is presented to media professionals who have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT Community. Photos and video will be posted to glaad.org/mediaawards in the coming days.
Shay Mitchell, Ian Harding, and Ashley Benson, cast members from the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars were on hand to present the Award for Outstanding Daily Drama Series to “Days of Our Lives.” Additionally, Mario Lopez and Rita Moreno were there to present the Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism Article to the HuffingtonPost.com for their courageous feature “Adam and Pete: Love in a Time of War.”
Brittany McMillan, creator of Spirit Day which inspires millions to wear purple or ‘go purple’ on social media in support of LGBT youth, presented a Special Recognition Award to Facebook for the company's strong support of its LGBT users. Spirit Day will be held on October 19, 2012. Facebook's Andrew Noyes and Sara Sperling accepted the award on behalf of Facebook.
In a pre-recorded video, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said of the honor, “For two decades, GLAAD has recognized those who promote understanding, increase acceptance and advance equality. This is incredibly important and I couldn’t be more pleased that Facebook is among those being honored by GLAAD this year. I’m thankful that GLAAD has recognized our commitment to helping young people make safe, smart and responsible choices online and offline. We’re committed to helping people express who they really are.”
The following is the complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in San Francisco:
- Outstanding Daily Drama Series - Days of Our Lives
- Outstanding Drama Series - Grey’s Anatomy
- Outstanding Digital Journalism Article - “Adam and Pete: Love in a Time of War” HuffingtonPost.com
GLAAD also announced that Las Aparicio (Mun 2) received the award for Outstanding Novela.
(L-R: Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, Guillermo Diaz, Katie Lowes)
LGBT advocate and author Zach Wahls spoke about his work with GLAAD, his new campaign Out to Dinner, as well as his experience delivering 280,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts calling on the group to end its long history of discrimination. Special guests included pop music sensation Fun, Shay Mitchell, Ian Harding, Ashley Benson (Pretty Little Liars); Guillermo Diaz (Half Baked); Fortune Feimster, Chris Franjola (Chelsea Lately); Mario Lopez (Extra); Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz and Kerry Washington (Scandal); Sean Maher (Firefly); Chandler Massey and Freddie Smith (Days of Our Lives); writer and LGBT advocate Janet Mock; Adam Pally (Happy Endings); Thomas Roberts (MSNBC Live); Freddie Smith (Days of Our Lives); LGBT advocate and proud mother Jennifer Tyrrell; and LGBT advocate and author Zach Wahls.
Photos and video of the event will be posted soon at glaad.org/mediaawards.
The 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards series in San Francisco on June 2, 2012 concludes the GLAAD Media Awards for this year. For a complete list of all winners, nominees, and special guests, click here.
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.