The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation-GLAAD presented 16 of its 2013 media awards at a ceremony in New York City. A highlight of the evening March 16 was Madonna presenting CNN’s Anderson Cooper with the Vito Russo Award.
Madonna, wearing a Boy Scout uniform – with a wide-brimmed hat , cargo shorts and fishnet stockings – and not looking at all butch, announced the award to Cooper, who came out as gay this past year. In the presentation of the award, the pop star and newsman kissed, an act that has become a tradition for Madonna at awards ceremonies. She also famously kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
GLAAD also presented the Ally Award to film director Brett Ratner and premiered a public service announcement campaign helmed by Ratner. The GLAAD "Coming Out for Equality" PSA series features straight celebrities and athletes coming out for equality and calling for other Americans to speak out.
Other awards included Outstanding Drama Series: “Smash” (NBC); Outstanding Documentary: “How to Survive a Plague” (Sundance Selects); Outstanding Reality Program: “The Amazing Race” (CBS); Outstanding TV Journalism - Newsmagazine: "Being Transgender in America" Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC); Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Obama Endorses Marriage Equality" Good Morning America(ABC); Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Game Changer" by Andy Mannix (City Pages (Minneapolis); Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Frank Bruni (The New York Times); Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage: The Boston Globe; Outstanding Magazine Article: "School of Hate" by Sabrina Rubin Erdely (Rolling Stone); Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The Advocate/Out; Outstanding New York Theatre: Broadway & Off Broadway: The Whaleby Samuel D. Hunter; Outstanding New York Theatre: Off-Off Broadway From White Plainswritten by Michael Perlman in collaboration with Fault Line Theatre
In the Spanish-Language category, GLAAD recognized: Outstanding Talk Show Interview: "Entrevista con Orlando Cruz" Titulares Telemundo(Telemundo); Outstanding Magazine Article: "Amor genuino" by Cristina Saralegui (People en Español); Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "Operación tolerancia: la lucha contra la homofobia en los medios hispanos" by Lilia Luciano (voces.huffingtonpost.com); Outstanding Digital Journalism - Multimedia: "2013: Año clave para la comunidad gay" by Ramón Frisneda (ElDiarioNY.com).
Additional GLAAD ceremonies will take place in Los Angeles on April 20 in San Francisco on May 11.
