20th Annual GLAAD Media Award Nominee�s Announced

The nominees for this year’s GLAAD Media Awards were announced today. Special honorees include Tyra Banks, who will receive the Excellence in Media Award and Suze Orman, who will receive the Vito Russo Award.

Notable nominations included: Gus Van Sant's Academy Award®-nominated film Milk, Woody Allen's Academy Award®-nominated film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, BBC America's hit shows Torchwood and Skins, HBO's vampire drama True Blood, MSNBC programs Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show.  The awards are intended to recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.

"The 20th anniversary of the GLAAD Media Awards is an excellent opportunity to reflect on how media representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have evolved over the past two decades, clearly helping shape and evolve people's hearts and minds about LGBT people," said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. "GLAAD's media advocacy and anti-defamation work as a resource for media professionals, combined with enabling LGBT people and allies to be compelling storytellers, has played a significant role in stories about our lives achieving greater visibility and being more compelling, honest, and real than ever before.  We are proud to recognize all of this year's GLAAD Media Awards nominees."