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GLAAD's Accelerating Acceptance report illuminates path ahead
GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellisappeared on Shift/MSNBC's "Out There with Thomas Roberts," alongside GLAAD Board of Directors Co-Chair Jenny Boylan and Transparent actress Judith Light. Ellis discussed GLAAD's Accelerating Acceptance report, a new survey conducted in collaboration with the Harris Poll, which measures attitudes toward LGBT Americans. GLAAD's work was picked up by NBC News, who also shared it as a "top story to know" that day, The Washington Post, the Huffington Post, NewNowNext, PinkNews, and Frontiers Media, all of which included a quote from Ellis. CNN also cited the groundbreaking survey, and Boylan penned an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times about Accelerating Acceptance. The poll found that cultural acceptance of LGBT people is lagging behind the nation's policy gains. Watch the interview here.
GLAAD's #GotYourBack campaign spreads on social media
GLAAD's #GotYourBack campaign allows LGBT people and allies to affirm their support for the LGBT community. Supporters, including Tyra Banks, tweeted about it, and several people, including Sara Ramirez, sent photos of themselves holding signs that read "#GotYourBack." GLAAD Video & News Strategist Claire Pires also visited three colleges and asked students on camera about what makes a good LGBT ally. The video was published on The Huffington Post. Take the pledge here!
GLAAD leads informative town hall
GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, Vice President of Programs Zeke Stokes, Vice President of Development Lauren Dowling, and Director of Spanish-Language Media Monica Trasandes participated in a Town Hall this week to discuss the results of a new poll released by GLAAD and ongoing initiatives to accelerate LGBT acceptance. Watch the town hall here.
Inaccurate coverage in Spanish-Language media sparks advocacy
GLAAD Spanish-Language Media Director Monica Trasandes and Strategist Janet Quezada contacted local Los Angeles advocates from TransLatina Coalition, Lambda Legal, and Familia Trans Queer Liberation Movement to reach out to local Spanish and English-language media to address problematic coverage of the death of transgender woman, Katya de la Riva, in Los Angeles and the arrest of transgender woman, Valeria de la Luz. Los Angeles area media has been covering it in English and Spanish, and the team is working with media outlets to cover the stories accurately.
Sarah Kate Ellis Discusses value of media coverage with The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast has released a video of GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis speaking alongside J. Bob Alotta of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and Rev. Joseph Tolton of the Global Justice Institute. The panel was a part of Quorum, an event organized for International Human Rights Day on December 10. Ellis spoke about "Levers of Change" and the role that the media plays in creating a more pro-LGBT culture around the world. Watch the video here.
Dragon Age: Inquisiton video game provides hope for LGBT gamers
GLAAD Director of Entertainment Matt Kane wrote a personal opinion piece for The Huffington Post about how the LGBT-inclusive video game Dragon Age: Inquisition is breaking new ground The video game will receive a special recognition award at the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Read more here.
Multidimensional LGBT television characters get attention
GLAAD Entertainment Strategist Max Gouttebroze gave an interview to popular French culture magazine Les InRocks. The piece is about the evolution of LGBT characters on TV and how multidimensional they are now. The outlet also spoke to Ryan Murphy, Lena Dunham, Michael Lannan and Murray Bartlett. It also appeared in print. Read more here.
LGBT people and allies come out in Portland
GLAAD Vice President of Programs Zeke Stokes and GLAAD Video & News Strategist Claire Pires interviewed LGBT people and allies at the Human Rights Campaign's Time to Thrive youth conference in Portland, Oregon. Pires asked attendees why visibility is important, what issues should get the same focus as marriage equality, and a time when someone had their back for GLAAD's #GotYourBack campaign. Pires also interviewed Debi Jackson, a mother of a transgender daughter who garnered media attention after a video of her speaking about her daughter garnered 535,000 views. Stay tuned for video of the interviews, coming soon at GLAAD.org.
Bringing bi visibility in politics to the media
GLAAD was among the first to write last week that Oregon's Kate Brown would make history by becoming the nation's first ever openly bisexual governor. GLAAD brought visibility to the bi community and its achievements, countering the media's common erasure of people who are bisexual. Outlets including Mashable quoted GLAAD Communications Manager Alexandra Bolles. Read more here.
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