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GLAAD "has had a culture-changing impact," says Television Academy President Frank Scherma.
GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, will receive the Governors Award from the Television Academy during next year’s Emmy Awards ceremony.
“The award recognizes GLAAD’s work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality,” says a press release from the academy.
The Governors Award “honors an individual, company or organization that has made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television,” the release continues.
“GLAAD’s diligence and influence are especially critical in today’s world as we’re seeing a flood of anti-LGBTQ legislation being proposed across the country,” Governors Award Selection Committee Chair Kim Taylor-Coleman said in the release. “We are honored to recognize GLAAD’s commitment to equality for all.”
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’'s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” added Frank Scherma, chair of the Television Academy. “Through its education and advocacy programs, it has had a culture-changing impact.”
GLAAD’s programs include the annual “Where We Are on TV” report, which tracks the quantity, quality, and diversity of LGBTQ+ representation on television. Its annual Studio Responsibility Index does the same for film. The organization also honors inclusive media through the GLAAD Media Awards; runs the annual Spirit Day observance to support LGBTQ+ youth; provides training for film, TV, and media professionals through the GLAAD Media Institute; and offers much more. Most recently, it held its inaugural Black Queer Creative Summit, which brought more than 150 Black LGBTQ+ writers and creatives together to share best practices for working in the entertainment industry.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis will accept the award during the Emmys ceremony, to be televised January 15 at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific on Fox.
“This tremendous honor from the Television Academy is a testament to the historic and impactful work of GLAAD's founders, board members and staff over the past four decades as well as the LGBTQ executives, creators and talent who are telling authentic LGBTQ stories on television,” Ellis said in the release. “At a time when our world seems more divided and media plays an outsized role in shaping culture, television has the unique power to tell human stories that grow empathy and acceptance. This honor is just the latest example of how the Television Academy plays a pivotal role in ensuring accurate and diverse storytelling, which educates, entertains and enlightens.”
Previous recipients of the Governors Award, first presented in 1978, include the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Debbie Allen, Tyler Perry, Star Trek, American Idol, mtvU Campaign for Darfur, PBS, Masterpiece Theater, Hallmark Cards, and Walter Cronkite.
Pictured: Sarah Kate Ellis
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