GLAAD's San Francisco Gala last Saturday honored CNN anchor Don Lemon and tech innovator Sam Altman, while raising funds for the organization's ongoing efforts for LGBTQ inclusion in digital and social media.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi surprised the sold-out crowd of over 500 people when she appeared to present Altman with the Ric Weiland Award. Watch her speech below.
CEO Sarah Kate Ellis took some well-deserved credit for GLAAD, outlining their recent accomplishments, including silencing One Million Moms when they tried to shut down the first Disney cartoon that featured two moms. She joked, "One Million Moms, that would have been two more moms, makes sense to me!" She concluded by emphasizing, "Our fight isn't about Democrat versus Republican, or left versus right. It's about right versus wrong," and reminded us that "Love beats hate. Love wins. And it always will." Watch her speech below.
Van Jones offered a moving introduction of Don Lemon, saying Lemon is his "personal hero." Watch the exclusive clip below.
Lemon opened his acceptance sppech by saying, "I've been a gay black man all my life, and so I ain't scared of nobody." Lemon went on to condemn white supremacy. "We have to point out outright bigotry and racism -- and as a man of color, I certainly know it when I see it, I can smell it coming -- and to make sure that some uninformed people don't get confused that there are no fine or good Nazis or white supremacists anywhere and it's not about both sides," he said Watch his speech here.
All videos are courtesy of GLAAD.
