Oprah, Niecy Nash-Betts, Out win big at GLAAD awards

The 35th GLAAD Media Awards were handed out Thursday evening in Beverly Hills, Calif., with Out — a sister publication of The Advocate — winning the 2024 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage.

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, announced the winners at a ceremony that also honored out actress Niecy Nash-Betts, media icon Oprah Winfrey, lesbian actress Reneé Rapp, and series like Fellow Travelers and RuPaul’s Drag Race for their inclusive and affirming depictions of LGBTQ+ life.

In its category, Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage, Out beat The Advocate, Billboard, People, and Variety.

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The Advocate had won the last two GLAAD Awards in the category, and three times since 2020. People, Variety, Billboard, Teen Vogue, and Sports Illustrated are other recent winners.

“Thank you to GLAAD for honoring Out as the winner of Outstanding Magazine — Overall Coverage. This is truly a group triumph at our parent company, equalpride,” Out’s editor-in-chief Daniel Reynolds says. “Our stellar editorial, executive, sales, advertising, video, and marketing teams went above and beyond last year to make Out, as a longtime beacon of LGBTQ+ media, shine like never before.”

“With the upcoming election and the 30th anniversary of our storied Out100 list, 2024 is a monumental year for Out,” he continues. “This award gives us renewed drive and reminds us of the vital importance of our mission to report on, celebrate, and create queer culture. We dedicate it to our readers, whose support allows us to continue this vital work today and for 30 more years to come (and if you love what we do, subscribe to our print issue as well as our email newsletter).”

Other winners from the night included Fellow Travelers winning Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Ted Lasso winning for Outstanding Comedy, Yellowjackets winning Outstanding Drama, and RuPaul’s Drag Race winning Outstanding Reality Program.

In the movie categories, Bottoms won for Outstanding Wide Release Film, and Monica, starring Trace Lysette, won for Limited Release Film. Reneé Rapp won Outstanding Music Artist, and former American Idol contestant David Archuleta won Breakthrough Music Artist. Musician/actress Kate Hudson and pop star Chloe also performed at the ceremony.

Wayne Brady hosted the award show, where Nash-Betts was presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, while Winfrey was given the Vanguard Award. Actress Sharon Stone introduced Nash-Betts, with the latter giving a rousing speech about unexpectedly falling in love with wife Jessica Betts and finding happiness in a same-sex relationship. Winfrey won the Vanguard Award — previously given to iconic figures like Madonna and Beyoncé — for her years educating the public on LGBTQ+ issues and fostering tolerance on her long-running eponymous talk show, as well as the numerous acclaimed film and television projects she's produced and starred in, like David Makes Man and The Color Purple. Winfrey grew emotional speaking of her brother, who succumbed to AIDS-related complications at the age of 29.

“Many people don’t know this, but, 35 years ago, my brother, Jeffrey Lee, passed away when he was just 29 years old from AIDS. Growing up at the time we did, in the community we did, we didn’t have the language to understand or speak about sexuality and gender in the way we do now. At the time, I didn’t know how deeply my brother internalized the shame he felt about being gay. I wish he could have lived to witness these liberated times and be here with me tonight.”

Winfrey also spoke of the incredible advances in HIV treatment and the concept of Undetectable Equals Untransmittable, which means people living with HIV and adhering to treatment cannot transmit the virus to others.

Watch Winfrey's speech below.

Oprah Winfrey accepts the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awardswww.youtube.com