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The GLAAD awards were held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Thursday to honor the most prolific names and storytellers in the LGBTQ community. The evening was hilariously hosted by former Ugly Betty star Michael Urie, who opened the show in a custom Christian Siriano look in green and pink as an homage to Wicked. “Tonight I get to be Elphaba and Glinda,” Urie joked. “Tonight we give flowers to the movies, TV, music, video games, podcasts, journalism, and more, that give us fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of LGBTQ people and issues.” (Can we get Urie to host everything in the future!?)
Michael Urie (Getty Images)
Doechii was the first recipient of the night with the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist. “I am thrilled at being recognized with such a prestigious award by GLAAD – and to be joining prior honorees such as Renee Rapp, Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X, Sam Smith and Janelle Monae. This is such a huge and special moment as well because GLAAD is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. This organization was founded on the principles of acceptance, inclusiveness and empowerment. Those are the same tenets I strongly believe in, advocate for and that continue to propel me forward – especially now as hard-won cultural change and rights for transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community are being threatened. But we are here and we are not going anywhere. The support and love I’m feeling as I accept this award from GLAAD is overwhelming, uplifting and – as I move forward in my life and career – enabling. It’s also a beacon to other aspiring artists to not let anyone ever block your dreams. Stay connected with each other. Stay passionate. Stay unapologetic.”
Doechii (Getty Images)
Cynthia Erivo received GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak award and was introduced by Brandon Kyle Goodman. “This is for those who have not yet even begun to find the road, be encouraged and be patient with yourself, it will show itself,” Erivo said. “I know this event is to celebrate the work and I am endlessly grateful for that honor and for this celebration, but the real work is making the ground we leave in our wake level enough for the next person who finds their way to the path we have made. For the person who is searching and searching and has not found it yet. This room is full of people who can and will, if they choose, and I hope they will, because I do, be lanterns to light up your journey and your path on your way to showing the world who you are.”
Cynthia Erivo, (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for GLAAD)
The night included appearances from Jonathan Bennett, Bobby Berk, Sophia Bush, William Stanford Davis, Paul W. Downs, Dylan Efron, Hannah Einbinder, Cynthia Erivo, Joshua Jackson, Cooper Koch, Lil Nas X, Joe Locke, Patti LuPone, Nava Mau, Maren Morris, Dylan Mulvaney, Zachary Quinto, Megan Stalter, and more!
Other highlight of the show included Patti LuPone giving hilarious readings of some classic line readings from RuPaul’s Drag Race queens, an Ugly Betty reunion on stage with cast members Ana Ortiz, Mark Indelicato, Urie, and Becki Newton, and Jake Wesley Rogers performing a memorable take on Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” to close out the night.
Ana Ortiz, Mark Indelicato, Michael Urie, and Becki Newton (Getty Images)
Winners included The Groomsmen: Second Chances (Hallmark), which received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film, Will & Harper (Netflix) received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV) received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program, The Real Housewives of New York City (Bravo) received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program, Agatha All Along (Disney+) received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New Series, and Hacks (Max) received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Dylan Mulvaney, Sophia Bush, and Paul W. Downs (Getty Images)
“GLAAD was founded 40 years ago during the AIDS crisis, because our community knew no one was coming to save us,” GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said. “We had to save ourselves. We used the powerful tool of media along with our allies to create a better and more equal world. And it worked. Because stories shift culture and rewrite narratives. They give people power to see beyond their own experience, to open their minds to those they have never met, and to challenge the prejudice they were handed. No law, no ban, no book-burning can ever stop our stories. They are defiant. They are uncontainable. They find their way into the hearts of those who need them most.”
The GLAAD Awards will air on Hulu next month.
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