Spotlight On: GLAAD Honorary Award Winners

In recoginition of this evening's 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards presentation in New York, we shine The QuOD Spotlight On past recipients of the group's special honorary awards:

The Davidson/Valentini Award is named in memory of Craig Davidson, GLAAD's first executive director, and his partner Michael Valentini, a GLAAD supporter. It is presented to an openly GLBT individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the GLBT community.

Winners:
2000 - Kathy Levinson
2001 - Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
2002 - Sandra Bernhard
2003 - B.D. Wong
2004 - Clive Barker
2005 - Alec Mapa
2006 - Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman
2007 - Robert Gant
2008 - Ilene Chaiken
2009 - Chad Allen
2010 - Lee Daniels


The Stephen F. Kolzak Award is presented annually at the GLAAD Media Awards. It is named after Kolzak, a successful Los Angeles casting director who devoted the last part of his life to fighting AIDS-phobia and homophobia in the entertainment industry; he was posthumously honored with the first Kolzak Award in 1991. The award is given to an openly GLBT member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia.

Winners:
1993 - Ian McKellen
1995 - Pedro Zamora
1997 - Bruce Vilanch
1998 - Ellen DeGeneres
1999 - Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher
2000 - Anne Heche
2001 - Paris Barclay
2002 - Alan Ball
2003 - Todd Haynes
2004 - John Waters
2005 - Bill Condon
2006 - Melissa Etheridge
2007 - Martina Navratilova
2008 - Rufus Wainwright
2009 - V. Gene Robinson
2010 - Wanda Sykes
2011 - Robert Greenblatt


The Pioneer Award is presented to a pioneering individual, group or outlet that made a significant contribution to the development of GLBT-inclusive media images prior to the existence of the GLAAD Media Awards.

Winners:
2005 - Hank Plante
2007 - Kate Clinton
2008 - David Mixner and Herb Ritts

The Golden Gate Award is presented to media professionals who have increased the visibility and understanding of the GLBT community.

Winner:
2004 - Megan Mullally


The Vito Russo Award is named in memory of Vito Russo, a founding member of GLAAD and author of The Celluloid Closet. The award is presented to an openly GLBT member of the entertainment or media community for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia.

Winners:
1992 - Jennie Livingston
1998 - k.d. lang
1999 - RuPaul
2001 - Liz Smith
2002 - Nathan Lane
2003 - Rosie O'Donnell
2004 - Cherry Jones
2005 - Alan Cumming
2006 - David LaChapelle
2007 - Tom Ford
2008 - Brian Graden
2009 - Suze Orman
2010 - Cynthia Nixon
2011 - Ricky Martin

The Visibility Award is given to an openly GLBT individual who has furthered the visibility of the community through his/her work.

Winners:
1991 - Randy Shilts and Virginia Uribe
1992 - Lillian Faderman and Paul Monette
1994 - Roberta Achtenberg and Harvey Fierstein


The Visibilidad Award is presented to an openly GLBT Spanish-language media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the GLBT community.

Winner:
2008 - Wilson Cruz

The Capital Award is given to an openly GLBT individual who has achieved excellence in a specific area of media and furthered the visibility and inclusion of the community through his/her work.

Winner:
1999 - Armistead Maupin

The Vanguard Award is presented annually to honor a member of the entertainment community who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for GLBT people.

Winner:
2010 - Drew Barrymore

Local Hero Award:
Presented in recognition of an individual's work to raise awareness about LGBT lives and issues.

Winner:
2011 - Kara Swisher

Related posts on The QuOD:
- Spotlight On: The 2008 GLAAD Media Awards
- Spotlight On: The 2009 GLAAD Media Awards
- Spotlight On: The 2010 GLAAD Media Awards

Spotlight On: is an occasional feature here on The QuOD that highlights various pop culture touchstones involving a number of GLBT people of note.