Debra Messing had a strong message for Ivanka Trump at the GLAAD Media Awards: "It's time to do something."
The Will & Grace star did not mince words Saturday at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York, when reminding the First Daughter of her responsibility to advocate for women, immigrants, and transgender youth within the Trump administration.
"It's not enough to simply say that women's issues are important to you. It's time to do something. You can change the lives of millions of women and children just by telling your dad stories about real people who are suffering," said Messing during her acceptance speech for the Excellence in Media Award, which is presented to those who advocate for LGBT visibility.
"Don't let him separate immigrant mothers from their American-born children," said Messing, who was introduced by Girls actor Andrew Rannells. "Don't let him take health care away from women who need it. Don't allow him to make trans kids like Gavin [Grimm] fight in court for their basic human dignity."
"Please stop blindly defending your father and start defending what you say you believe in," she said.
The 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honors accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community. The evening's other big honoree, Billy Porter, used his speech as an intersectional call to The Resistance.
"From slavery to emancipation, to the 13th amendment, to Jim Crow to the Civil Rights Movement, from Stonewall to AIDS, to marriage equality, remember whose shoulders we stand on," said the Kinky Boots star, while accepting the Vito Russo Award presented by Rosie O'Donnell. "Let's use the historical strides we've made as a nation to empower us as warriors on this battlefield for equality."
Other honorees of the evening included Oxygen's Strut, Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah for its "Angelica Ross" episode.
See the full list of winners below.
Outstanding TV Journalism - Newsmagazine: "Church and States" Vice on HBO
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Gay Community in U.S. 'Forged in Fire'" The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Permission to Hate" by Elizabeth Leland (The Charlotte Observer)
Outstanding Magazine Article: "HIV Mystery: Solved?" by Tim Murphy (The Nation)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Teen Vogue
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "After the Orlando Shooting, the Changed Lives of Gay Latinos" by Daniel Wenger (NewYorker.com)
Outstanding Music Artist: Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death (Warner Bros. Records.)
Outstanding Blog: Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters (holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com)
Spanish-Language Nominees
Outstanding Daytime Program Episode: "Las lesbianitas" Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
Outstanding Television Interview: "Entrevista con Congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen y su hijo Rodrigo Lehtinen" Al Punto (Univision)
Outstanding Local TV Interview: "Aceptacion" Sobre Todos los Generos (Mira TV [Miami])
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: "Masacre Orlando" Conclusiones (CNN en Espanol)
Outstanding TV Journalism - Newsmagazine: "Siempre fui Xander" Aqui y Ahora (Univision)
Outstanding Digital Journalism - Multimedia: "Conmovedor video retrata el prejuicio en Puerto Rico" por Marcos Billy Guzman, Teresa Canino, Adlin Gonzalez (elnuevodia.com)
See the list of GLAAD winners from the Los Angeles ceremony here.
