‘Smash,’ Lady Gaga and anti-bullying teenage campaigner triumph at GLAAD awards
Lady Gaga, the NBC musical drama ‘Smash,’ and a teenager from Michigan who has been campaigning to make it easier for children to see a forthcoming documentary on bullying have all been crowned at the annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media awards, announced a few hours ago.
The awards are intended to honour fair, accurate and inclusive representation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The ceremony, hosted by Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith from the hit-show ‘Glee,’ was held in New York, and further ceremonies with more awards are planned for Los Angeles in April and San Fransisco in June.
Other winners included ABC’s ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ and the playwright Tony Kushner’s recent work, ‘The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures.’ Kushner is best known for his epic two-part drama, ‘Angels in America,’ which was also made into a six-hour HBO film, starring Meryl Streep, Al Pacino and Emma Thompson.
The campaign against bullying of LGBT adolescents took centre-stage at the ceremony, as Katy Butler, a seventeen-year old from Ann Arbor was honoured with a special award for gathering more than 400,000 signatures on an online petition, urging the Motion Picture Association of America to lower its restricted R-rating for ‘Bully,’ a documentary set for release next Friday. The Association has said that the film has very strong language, which warrants the film being restricted to the viewing by minors under 17 only under adult supervision.
Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, producers of ‘Smash,’ and the blockbusters ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Chicago,’ received awards for their distinguished career, named in honour of the gay rights campaigner, Vito Russo.
Oprah, the New York Times, Ricky martin, and the CNN show, ‘Anderson Cooper 360,’ were among the night’s other winners.
