POWER UP, a non-profit film production company and educational organization which develops, finances, produces and distributes GLBTQ films, announced their 9th Annual 10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz Awards. For the first time, this year they also announced the 10 Amazing Gay Men in Showbiz Awards.
The award, given to recipients November 1, 2009 at the 9th Annual Power Premiere Celebrity Gala, recognizes Amazing Gay Women and Men who are working, creating and changing lives along their paths to success.
Stacy Codikow, founder and Executive Director of POWER UP, explained the decision to add the list of gay men this year. “With the current climate, POWER UP saw this as a time, more than any other, where our GLBTQ community – Women & Men - needs to be unified to help achieve our collective goal of equality, representation and acceptance. POWER UP knows that we are in this together and is working to advance our collective interests.”
This year has been quite a year for the progression of the GLBTQ movement throughout the country. Marriage equality, immigration and hate crimes have been at the forefront of politics and in the media. The women included on this year's list of recipients work in all areas of media and production. The list includes actresses Kelly McGillis and Megan Cavanagh; TV host Rachel Maddow; writers, producers, and directors Susan Miller, Patricia Resnick, Carol Leifer, Liz Feldman, and Harriet Newman Leve; musician Sharon Isbin, and SVP of Marketing, Entertainment, and Content for MySpace Angela Courtin.
McGillis' first big role was in Witness, followed up by starring opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun. She continued work in television, including her recent spot on The L Word. She also found time to produce and star in a film adaptation of Kate Chopin’s novel, Grand Isle. She has spent the majority of the past decade being a mother and raising her two daughters, Kelsey and Sonora. McGillis only recently came out as a lesbian in an interview on SheWired's GirlRock vlog with Jennifer Corday.
The first ever gay men receiving the award are Paris Barclay, Lance Bass, Bob Cohen, C. Jay Cox, Silvio Horta, Graham Kaye, Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, Don Ross, and Gus Van Sant.
