GLAAD's Weekly Update on News, Entertainment and Online Media. To subscribe, click here.
GLAAD Media Awards' Special Recognition category meets wide celebration
GLAAD Director of Entertainment Media Matt Kane was interviewed by online Canadian newspaper, The Edmonton Journal, about GLAAD's special recognition of the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition at the upcoming GLAAD Media Awards. The game has been revered for portraying LGBT characters and is the sole nominee for the GLAAD Media Awards' Special Recognition category. IGN, PlayStation Lifestyle, International Business Times, NewNowNext, Tech Times, Gamespot, Game Revolution, Joystiq, Headlines and Global News, and Segment Next were among the more than 100 outlets that covered the nomination. “It’s very rare for LGBT players to both feel welcomed by and represented inside a mainstream video game," Kane said. His interview brings attention to this LGBT-inclusive game and spotlights the need for more LGBT visibility in the video game industry. Read more here.
Lesbian model comes out in new memoir
GLAAD Director of Spanish-Language Media, Monica Trasandes, met with model and actress, Patricia Velasquez, and her team on best ways to talk to the media about coming out. Velasquez is publishing a memoir in which she discusses, for the first time, coming out as lesbian. Velasquez was a runway model for Chanel, Gucci, and Carolina Herrera. She also appeared on magazine covers including Cosmopolitan and Latina, and acted in movies including The Mummy. Velasquez's memoir, Straight Walk: A Supermodel’s Journey to Finding Her Truth, will be published by Post Hill Press on February 10. Trasandes' work with Velasquez and her team helps them articulate her story to the media in a way that debunks stereotypes. Read more here.
GLAAD Southern Stories gets a global audience
British daily newspaper, The Guardian, published a feature piece on LGBT advocates' work in the south, including GLAAD's Southern Stories program. The article quoted GLAAD Vice President of Programs Zeke Stokes, as well as other advocates working in the South. Stokes explained the need to "move the cultural needle" and described the growing gap between legal and cultural acceptance. Read more here.
Spanish-language program focuses on stories of transgender women
GLAAD's Monica Trasandes and GLAAD Strategist Janet Quezada worked with the producers of Univision's investigative program, Aqui y Ahora, to book transgender women to talk about their experiences, triumphs and challenges for a segment that will air later this month. The segment aims to tell diverse stories of transgender women to the network's 2.1 million Spanish-speaking viewers. The team's efforts to book diverse transgender women will ensure that the coverage portrays a variety of stories to keep the media's coverage varied and accurate.
Latino LGBT people's stories are heard in Colorado
GLAAD's Monica Trasandes and Janet Quezada were interviewed on Denver's Spanish-language radio station, KBNO-La Voz del Pueblo, about organizing the Latino Institute for the upcoming Creating Change conference, as well as issues that impact Latino LGBT people. The team plans to discuss the importance of family acceptance and the intersecting issues that Latino LGBT people face at the conference and have been meeting with Spanish-language media outlets in Colorado to discuss these issues. Their work brings attention to the LGBT Spanish-language community and includes the media from the beginning to ensure accurate coverage.
To get the latest updates and take part in GLAAD’s work to build support for LGBT equality, be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!