Kerry Washington, Roland Emmerich honored at 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, honored Kerry Washington, Roland Emmerich, and the best in film and television at the 26^th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Shonda Rhimes, Patricia Arquette, and Viola Davis were among the special guests. The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Delta Air Lines, Hilton, Ketel One Vodka, and Wells Fargo; and Official Presenting Partners Amazon and Bud Light.

Photographs from the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles may be found immediately at www.wireimage.com or www.glaad.org/mediaawards/recap.  Video clips of the ceremonies may be found at www.youtube.com/glaad.

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. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBT community and issues that build support for acceptance.

At the ceremony, Ellen DeGeneres presented Kerry Washington with GLAAD's Vanguard Award, which is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

In an acceptance speech that had the audience on their feet, Washington said, "I don't decide to play the characters I play as a political choice. Yet the characters I play often do become political statements. Because having your story told as a woman, as a person of color, as a lesbian, as a trans person, or as any member of any disenfranchised community, is sadly often still a radical idea. There is so much power in storytelling, and there is enormous power in inclusive storytelling, in inclusive representations. That is why the work of GLAAD is so important. We need more LGBT representation in the media. We need more LGBT characters and more LGBT storytelling. We need more diverse LGBT representation. And by that, I mean lots of different kinds of LGBT people living all different kinds of lives. And this is big—we need more employment of LGBT people in front of and behind the camera." Washington continued, "We can't say that we believe in each other's fundamental humanity, and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each other's existence, and the truth of each other's hearts. We must be allies and we must be allies in this business, because to be represented is to be humanized, and as long as anyone anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake, and we are all vulnerable. We must see each other, all of us. And we must see ourselves, all of us. And we have to continue to be bold and break new ground until that is just how it is, until we are no longer 'firsts' and 'exceptions' and 'rare' and 'unique.' In the real world, being an 'other' is the norm. In the real world, the only norm is uniqueness, and our media must reflect that. Thank you, GLAAD, for fighting the good fight."

Also at the event, Channing Tatum presented out director Roland Emmerich with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. In accepting the award Emmerich said, "I’m very honored and thankful to be here tonight to accept the Stephen F. Kolzak Award from GLAAD. GLAAD does so much to change our society by sharing stories about LGBT people, and to make everyone understand the value of our stories. So what is my story? I'm a director, I'm German, and I'm gay."

Zoe Saldana presented the award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release to The Imitation Game. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Graham Moore and producer Ido Ostrowsky accepted the award on behalf of the film, and producer Harvey Weinstein recorded a video acceptance urging attendees in the ballroom to sign a Change.org petition calling on the British government to pardon the other 49,000 people convicted under the same unjust law as Alan Turing.

Laura Jane Grace, front woman for the punk band Against Me! and this year's GLAAD Media Award recipient for Outstanding Music Artist, co-presented with Andrew Rannells the award for Outstanding Comedy Series to Amazon's Transparent. Accepting for Transparent were show creator Jill Soloway, co-producer Rhys Ernst, and stars Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Alexandra Billings, Kiersey Clemons, Michaela Watkins, Alison Sudol, Clementine Creevy, and Brett Parasol.

Murray Bartlett and Daniel Franzese from HBO's Looking presented the award for Outstanding Drama Series to ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. Show creator Peter Nowalk, executive producer Shonda Rhimes, and cast members Viola Davis, Jack Falahee, Matt McGorry, and Aja Naomi King accepted on behalf of the show.

On Saturday night, FOX's Glee also received a Special Recognition Award, following the series finale. For six seasons, Glee has consistently introduced groundbreaking LGBT characters and storylines, including a recent episode that featured a 200-person transgender choir. Joe Earley, Chief Operating Officer at Fox Television Group, accepted the award on behalf of the show. GLAAD previously announced that it was acknowledging BioWare's hit video game Dragon Age: Inquisition and the song "Era Diferente" by the legendary Mexican band Los Tigres del Norte with Special Recognition Awards.

Ellen DeGeneres presented the Vanguard Award to Kerry Washington. Channing Tatum presented the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to director Roland Emmerich. Comedian Tig Notaro hosted the event. Guests included: Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy); Patricia Arquette (CSI: Cyber); TV producer Shonda Rhimes; Viola Davis, Jack Falahee, Matt McGorry, Aja Naomi King, Peter Nowalk (How to Get Away with Murder); Portia de Rossi (Scandal); Graham Moore (The Imitation Game); Pauley Perrette (NCIS); Jill Soloway, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Alexandra Billings, Rhys Ernst, Kiersey Clemons, Michaela Watkins, Alison Sudol, Clementine Creevy, Brett Parasol (Transparent); Michael Harney, Samira Wiley, Nick Sandow, Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black); Andrew Rannells (Girls); Murray Bartlett, Daniel Franzese (Looking); Ron Perlman (Stonewall); Jordan Gavaris (Orphan Black); Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace; Michael Mosley, Kevin Daniels, Kevin Bigley (Sirens); Peter Paige, Bradley Bredeweg, Gavin MacIntosh, Hayden Byerly (The Fosters); Yara Martinez (Jane the Virgin); Serayah McNeill (Empire); Alex Newell (Glee); Stephen Beresford (Pride); Gregg Sulkin, Rita Volk, Michael J. Willett, Carter Covington (Faking It); Barrett Foa (NCIS: Los Angeles); Jessica St. Clair, Lennon Parham (Playing House); Wilson Cruz (Red Band Society); stylist Brad Goreski; Gary Janetti (Vicious); Guy Wilson, Freddie Smith, Christopher Sean (Days of Our Lives); musician Our Lady J; model Nats Getty; Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen); DJs Sam Sparro, Kim Anh, Derek Monteiro;  GLAAD Board member Meghan McCain; GLAAD National Spokesperson Omar Sharif, Jr. and GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in Los Angeles.  Additional awards will be presented in New York at the Waldorf Astoria on May 9.

• Vanguard Award:  Kerry Washington  (presented by Ellen DeGeneres)
• Stephen F. Kolzak Award:  Roland Emmerich (presented by Channing Tatum)
• Outstanding Film – Wide Release:  The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)  [accepted by: screenwriter Graham Moore and producer Ido Ostrowsky]
• Outstanding Drama Series:  How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)  [accepted by: creator Peter Nowalk with stars Viola Davis, Jack Falahee, Matt McGorry, and Aja Naomi King]
• Outstanding Comedy Series:  Transparent (Amazon Instant Video)  [accepted by: creator Jill Soloway, co-producer Rhys Ernst, and stars Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Alexandra Billings, Kiersey Clemons, Michaela Watkins, Alison Sudol, Clementine Creevy, and Brett Parasol]
• Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character): "Identity Crisis" Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)
• Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series:  The Normal Heart (HBO)
• Outstanding Music Artist:  Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Xtra Mile Recordings)
• Outstanding Comic Book : Rat Queens, written by Kurtis J. Wiebe (Image Comics)
• Outstanding Daily Drama:  Days of Our Lives (NBC)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism Article:  "31 Days of PrEP" [series] (Advocate.com)
• Outstanding Blog:  Autostraddle (autostraddle.com)

SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES

• Outstanding Daytime Program Episode:  "Cementerio homófobo" Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
• Outstanding Television Interview:  TIE:  "En cuerpo ajeno" Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo) and "Intolerancia familiar" Realidades en Contexto (CNN en Español)
• Outstanding Documentary:  "Identidad sin fronteras" Panorámica (Univision/Pivot)
• Outstanding Local TV Journalism:  "Cobertura de Spirit Day" [serie] Noticias 34 (KMEX-Univision 34 [Los Angeles])

In January, GLAAD announced 104 nominees in 21 English-language categories, and 40 Spanish-language nominees in 10 categories. Nominees for the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards can be found here: www.glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees.

To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use the hashtag #glaadawards.

The New York GLAAD Media Awards ceremony will take place on May 9 at the Waldorf Astoria New York.

The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards is presented by Delta Air Lines, Hilton, Ketel One Vodka, and Wells Fargo; and Official Presenting Partners Amazon and Bud Light.  GLAAD also thanks this year's corporate partners, which include: Titanium Partners- 21^stCentury Fox, ABC-Disney Television Group and Southwest Airlines; Platinum Partners- Allstate Insurance Company, AT&T, Comcast/NBC Universal, HBO, NBA, WNBA, PwC, Sheppard Mullin, The Coca-Cola Company, Time Warner and Viacom;  Gold Partners- CBS/Showtime, Nielsen, Omnicom, Univision, Westfield, and WWE; and Silver Partners- Bloomberg, Carat, Citi, Discovery Life, MLB, NFL, Skadden and US Bank. For a full list of corporate partners and information on how to become a corporate partner, purchase tickets, and place a tribute in the tribute book, please visit www.glaad.org/mediaawards.