Kudos!  AGLA's and GLAAD's Gay and Lesbian Media Awards

Gay organizations have thanked gay-friendly media professionals since the 1950s, when the Mattachine Society invited talk show host Fannie Hurst to address its 1958 national convention.  At the Mattachine's eighth annual Awards Banquet in San Francisco (1961), the honorees included TV producer John Reavis, the man behind the public television special The Rejected.

However, if you mention gay media awards, two much later organizations come to mind first: AGLA and GLAAD.  Each of these groups held annual award ceremonies that attracted big names from show business, both as recipients and presenters.

The Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Artists in the Entertainment Industry (AGLA) gave out media awards throughout the 1980s.  The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) first presented its Media Awards in 1990, and will present its 14th annual awards in 2003.
 

The AGLA Awards

AGLA was founded in 1979 as The Gay Actors' Rap, a grassroots support and discussion group for working actors in the Los Angeles area.  The group soon opened membership to other professionals from the worlds of film, television and theater, and the name was changed to the Alliance of Gay Artists.

In 1981, the group reorganized as an out-in-the-open trade association for gay people in show business andtheir supportive colleagues.  The name was changed to the Alliance for Gay Artists, and later, in 1984, to the Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Artists.

The information I have about the awards is spotty:

 

The GLAAD Media Awards

The first GLAAD Media Awards were presented in New York City in 1990, for media images in 1989.  In later years, a triple ceremony was instituted, with presentations in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington DC.  The GLAAD awards are presented for a variety of media (film, advertising, print media, etc).  The list below includes only those awards related to television:

1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994
1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999
2000 - 2001 - 2002

1981

These first annual AGA Awards were presented privately.

Incomplete list of recipients:
   Taxi: "Elaine's Strange Triangle"

1982

AGA's first public awards ceremony attracted a crowd of 400 in the L.A. Stage Company theater in Hollywood.  TV stars Lynn Redgrave (recently of House Calls) and Gregory Harrison (Trapper John, M.D.) were cohosts.  I do not have a list of recipients from 1982.

1983

With demand for tickets up, the AGA Awards moved to the larger Huntington Hartford Theater in Hollywood.  Rita Moreno and Robert Preston cohosted the ceremony, and scheduled presenters included Burt Lancaster, Lynn Redgrave, Alex Karras, Ted Danson and Eileen Brennan.

Television awards included:
   Dynasty
   Cheers: "The Boys in the Bar"
   Gimme a Break: "The Chief's Gay Evening"
   Phil Donahue (Donahue)
   Richard Thomas (American Playhouse: "Fifth of July")

1984

AGLA Awards were presented, but I don't have a list of recipients..

1985

AGLA Awards were presented, with emphasis on films, TV shows and plays that raised awareness of the AIDS epidemic.  No specifics presently available.

1986

Unclear whether awards were presented.  Probably not.

1987

The Golden Girls won an award, so three of the sitcom's stars of served as presenters: Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan.

Television awards included:
   The Golden Girls: "Isn't It Romantic"
   Hotel for three episodes: "Scapegoats," "Rallying Cry" and "Undercurrents"
   20/20 report on homophobia
   The A.I.D.S. Show
   An Early Frost
   L.A. Law: "Venus Butterfly" and :"Fry Me to the Moon"

Honorable mention:
   My Two Loves

1988

The final AGLA Awards were presented in 1988.  Thereafter, many of AGLA's leaders redirected their energy into AIDS organizations and AIDS fundraising.  AGLA formally disbanded a few years later.

Television awards included:
   Designing Women: "Killing All the Right People"

 

1990

Media person of the year:
   Phil Donahue

Special recognition:
   Bob Hope
   Gay Cable Network
   Out in the '90s

Documentary:
   Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt

Television:
   Doctor, Doctor
   The Tracey Ullman Show
   HeartBeat
   L.A. Law
   thirtysomething
   The Women of Brewster Place
   As the World Turns

1991

Special Awards:
   Stephen F. Kolzak (posthumously)
   Lindsay Law

Comedy Series:
   Doctor, Doctor

Comedy Episode:
   Designing Women: "Suzanne Goes Looking for a Friend"

Drama Series:
   L.A. Law

Drama Episode:
   Lifestories: "Steve Burdick"

Vito Russo Film Award:
   Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

TV Journalism:
   ABC World News Tonight
   WCBS TV 2 (New York) for The People

1992

Comedy Series:
   Roseanne

Comedy Episode:
   Roc: "Can't Help Loving Thet Man"

Drama Episode:
   L.A. Law: "The Nut Before Christmas"

TV Journalism:
   20/20: "Secrets in the Service" and "With Whom Do You Sleep?"
   Bill Press, KCOP-TV 13 (Los Angeles) for commentary or editorial
   KTTV-TV 11 (Los Angeles) for news story "Gay & Lesbian Teens"

1993

Special Award:
   Roseanne and Tom Arnold (Vanguard Award)

Comedy Series:
   Roseanne

Drama Series:
   Melrose Place
   One Life to Live

TV Movie:
   Doing Time on Maple Drive

TV Journalism:
   20/20: "The Only Way Out"

1994

Special Awards:
   Aaron Spelling (Vanguard Award)
   MTV

Comedy Series:
   Seinfeld

Comedy Episode:
   Dream On: "Pop Secret"

Drama Series:
   Sisters

Drama Episode:
   Law and Order: "Manhood"

Television Special:
   CBS Schoolbreak Special: "Other Mothers"

TV Movie:
   And the Band Played On

TV Journalism:
   WNBC-TV 4 (New York) for "Gays in the '90s"

1995

Special Awards:
   Pedro Zamora (Stephen F. Kolzak Award - posthumously)

Documentary:
   Coming Out Under Fire
   The Real World III, San Francisco

Comedy Series:
   Friends
   Roseanne

Comedy Episode:
   Frasier: "The Matchmaker"

Drama Series:
   My So-Called Life

TV Mini-Series:
   Tales of the City

Program for Young Adults:
   More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter

Music Video:
   Melissa Etheridge: "I'm the Only One"

TV Journalism:
   NBC Nightly News: "Gay in America"

Advertising:
   IKEA

1996

Special Awards:
   Barbara Walters (Excellence in Media Award)

Documentary:
   Ballot Measure 9
   The Celluloid Closet (Vito Russo Film Award)
   The Question of Equality

Television Series:
   NYPD Blue

TV Movie:
   Serving in Silence: The Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer Story

Daytime Television:
   All My Children

1997

Special Awards:
   Bruce Vilanch (Stephen F. Kolzak Award)
   Cristina Saralegui (Vanguard Award)

Comedy Series:
   Spin City

Drama Series:
   Chicago Hope

Individual Episode:
   Tracey Takes On...: "Tracey Takes on Romance"

TV Movie:
   Two Mothers for Zachary

Daytime Television:
   All My Children

TV Journalism:
   Turning Point: "For Better or For Worse"

1998

Special Awards:
   Ellen DeGeneres (Stephen F. Kolzak Award)

Comedy Series:
   Ellen

Drama Series:
   NYPD Blue

Individual Episode:
   The Simpsons: "Homer's Phobia"

TV Movie:
   Any Mother's Son

Talk Show:
   The Oprah Winfrey Show

Daytime Drama:
   All My Children

TV Journalism:
   Entertainment Tonight

1999

Special Awards:
   Armistead Maupin (Capitol Award)
   Larry King (Vision Award)

Documentary:
   Out of the Past

Comedy Series:
   Will & Grace

Drama Series:
   Chicago Hope

Individual Episode:
   Tracey Takes On...: "Tracey Takes on Religion"

TV Mini-Series:
   Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City

Talk Show:
   The View

TV Journalism:
   20/20: "Night of Terror: Matthew Shepard"

2000

Comedy Series:
   Will & Grace

Drama Series:
   Dawson's Creek

Individual Episode:
   Popular: "Wild Wild Mess"

TV Movie:
   Execution of Justice

Talk Show:
   Leeza

TV Journalism:
   20/20: "Billy Bean"

Advertising:
   "Sounds Like First Love" MTV promo

2001

Special Award:
   Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Davidson/Valentini Award)

Comedy Series:
   Will & Grace

Drama Series:
   Queer as Folk

Individual Episode:
   Ed: "The Whole Truth"

TV Movie:
   If These Walls Could Talk 2

Daytime Drama:
   All My Children

TV Journalism:
   20/20 Downtown: "High School Hero: The Corey Johnson Story"

Special Recognition:
   Survivor
   The West Wing

2002

Special Awards:
   Sandra Bernhard (Davidson/Valentini Award)
   Glenn Close (Excellence in Media Award)
   Brooke Shields (Golden Gate Award)
   KQED (Pioneer Award)
   Alan Ball (Stephen F. Kolzak Award)

Documentary:
   Scout's Honor

Comedy Series:
   Will & Grace

Drama Series:
   Six Feet Under

Individual Episode:
   Resurrection Blvd.: "Saliendo"

Television Movie:
   What Makes a Family

Daytime Drama:
   All My Children

TV Journalism:
   20/20: "The Children Speak"

Advertising:
   Miller Lite (for the commercial "Switcheroo")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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