Whoopi Goldberg to Open GLAAD Media Awards, 3/26

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced today that screen and stage star Whoopi Goldberg will open the 18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York.  Acclaimed actress Julianne Moore will present the Vito Russo Award to fashion icon Tom Ford, and Sex & the City star Cynthia Nixon will present the Pioneer Award to lesbian comedian and writer Kate Clinton.  Patti LaBelle will receive the Excellence in Media Award.

The GLAAD Media Awards in New York will be held on March 26, 2007 at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, with the cocktail reception starting at 5:30pm.  Additional ceremonies will be held in Los Angeles on April 14 at the Kodak Theatre; in San Francisco on April 28 at the Westin St. Francis; and in South Florida on May 10 at the JW Marriott Miami.

Other special guests scheduled to attend include: Rosie O'Donnell, Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell; Tim Gunn ("Project Runway"); Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, Jai Rodriguez ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"); Hilary Duff; Eden Riegel, Jeffrey Carlson ("All My Children"); Judy Gold; Van Hansis ("As the World Turns"); Rev. Jay Bakker; former NBA player John Amaechi; GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano.  More names will be announced.

For the third consecutive year, the GLAAD Media Awards will be televised on Logo, MTV Networks' cable channel for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender viewers and their allies.  The Logo airdate for the GLAAD Media Awards is April 21, 2007.

GLAAD also recently announced that it will recognize Special Honorees Martina Navratilova at the Los Angeles event and Jaime Bayly in South Florida.  Additional Special Honorees for Los Angeles, San Francisco and South Florida will be named at a later date.

In January, GLAAD announced 122 nominees in 26 English-language categories, and 61 Spanish-language nominees in 16 categories. Winners in the following categories will be announced onstage at the New York event:

- Outstanding Film–Limited Release (The History Boys, Imagine Me & You, Quinceañera, Shortbus, Summer Storm)
- Outstanding Documentary ("All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise," "Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer," "My Mums Used to be Men," "One Punk Under God," "This Film is Not Yet Rated")
- Outstanding Reality Program ("The Amazing Race 10," "Big Brother: All-Stars," "Project Runway," "Queer Eye," "Work Out")
- Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage (AsianWeek, The Chronicle of Higher Education, CosmoGIRL!, Details, People)
- Outstanding Spanish-Language Variety Program Segment ("Cada Día con María Antonieta," "Don Francisco Presenta," "Mapiando")

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor mainstream media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.  A complete list of GLAAD Media Awards nominees and descriptions of this year's Special Honorees follows.

GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released or broadcast between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006.  Nearly 1,000 media projects were considered in 26 English-language and 16 Spanish-language categories.  This year, more than 5,000 people will attend the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and South Florida, raising more than $3.7 million for the organization's work.

More than 100 corporate sponsors are showing their support, including Founding Sponsor ABSOLUT VODKA, which is returning to the GLAAD Media Awards for the 18th consecutive year.  GLAAD is also grateful to the event's Platinum Underwriter Sponsors IBM and Time Warner.  Allstate Insurance Company, American Airlines, Atlantis Events, Bud Light, Coors Brewing Company, Harrah's Foundation, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Lehman Brothers, Motorola, The Olivia Companies, Starbucks Coffee Company and Wells Fargo support the GLAAD Media Awards as Underwriter Sponsors. 

Visit www.glaad.org for more information.

Photo of Whoopi Goldberg by Ben Strothmann