NEW YORK — Pop icon Madonna, dressed in a replica of a cub scout uniform, presented CNN’s Anderson Cooper with an award for openly gay media professionals at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City last night.
Cooper was presented with GLAAD’s Vito Russo Award, but not before Madonna took shots at the Boy Scouts of America, calling thier ban on gay scouts and gay and lesbian scout members, “fucked up.”
The Vito Russo Award is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality.
Watch:
Cooper accepted the award, saying “I’ve had so many blessings in my life, and being gay is certainly one of the greatest blessings. It has allowed me to love and to be loved and to help open my head and my heart in ways I could never have predicted. The ability to love one another, the ability to love another person is, in my opinion, one of God’s greatest gifts, and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with the people in my life – my family, and my friends, and my partner Benjamin.”
Watch:
GLAAD President Herndon Graddick says Madonna and Cooper are longtime friends who have both used their careers to support lesbian, gay and transgender people.
Cooper declined to speak publicly about his sexuality for years. But last July he gave blogger Andrew Sullivan permission to publish an email in which Cooper said he was gay and “couldn’t be more happy.”
“By sharing his own experiences as a gay man, Anderson has reminded millions of Americans that LGBT people are part of their everyday lives and an integral part of our cultural fabric,” said Graddick. “He continues to raise the bar and set a new standard for journalists everywhere, and I’m proud to call him a friend.”
Other GLAAD Award recipients include:
- Ally Award: Brett Ratner
- Outstanding Drama Series: Smash (NBC)
- Outstanding Documentary: How to Survive a Plague (Sundance Selects)
- Outstanding Reality Program: The Amazing Race (CBS)
- Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Frank Bruni (The New York Times)
Additional award recipients will be announced in Los Angeles on April 20, and in San Francisco on May 11.
Filed under: Editor's Picks, Newsmakers
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:-)
Now only if Madonna would stop pushing circumcision, I’d like her again.
WOW!!! WHAT IS UP WITH THE LANGUAGE ANYMORE!!! DON’T PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THERE ARE VERY YOUNG AND IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN WHO GET ON THIS SITE AND ELSEWHERE ONLINE TO PLAY GAMES AND CHAT WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY?!?! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF YOUR CHILDREN CAME OFFLINE CUSSING AND SWEARING RIGHT OFF THE BAT?!?!
Kimberly, I’m pretty sure most “VERY YOUNG AND IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN WHO GET ON THIS SITE ELSEWHERE ONLINE TO PLAY GAMES WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY” aren’t subscribed to LGBTQ Nation’s page.
So, Anderson Cooper gets an award for coming out when he was 44 years old. Where’s my award for coming out when I was 17. Kicked out of my house and living as an out gay man in Texas in the 1980′s????
Kim, who the fuck cares? It’s the internet, you know how much swearing is on the internet? A FUCK LOT!
She is right about the BSA;sadly they aren’t the only ones fucked up in this nation. The American gay community is openly and rabidly legislated against and socially and politically discriminated against because we can be. We are about the only, if not the only, minority in this country that it is acceptable,and often even rewarding, to exclude and demonize. Not that others aren’t discriminated against and vilified by the narrow minds in the USA, but frequently those who do that,suffer for their actions. Rarely does any hater suffer the appropriate legal punishment-in states and localities where there is any type of legal punishment available for those who do us harm, that is-for anything said or done against or to the American gay community.
By the way I am pretty sick of people confusing circumcision and female genital mutilation. The first is proven to be an STD deterrent: the latter a human rights violation that oppresses women all over Africa. Studies have been done people so don’t attack Madonna unless you are going to accuse her of being overly commercial. And boy scouts is screwed up and Anderson Cooper can be a role model even if he is too overly commercial too!
Really? he got an award for coming out? lame.
im sorry but madonna has lost it. her cause is great. but yeah its not the same she was so of key and so not funny and wtf is up with the three or four people clapping. they were a no spirit bunch
This is great!
These people are standing up for a minority that is being discriminated beyond belief and all you are bothered about is a bit of bad language. O please wake up and smell the coffee. They probably learn’t the bad language of the kids in the first place.
Looking at the above comments, I am so proud to be an American, where apparently , grammar, syntax and never locking your caps lock aren’t taught. Onward through the fog!
Folks, cast away your ignorance. this award is NOT conferring for being gay! it is granted for being one who has made a GREAT difference in this world (which I’m quite certain no one would deny Cooper has done) and who, incidentally, is gay. you are confusing the issue.
There is a B in LGBT too folks.
Madonna who? & Kimberly honestly calm down.
lol. he wasn’t given an award for coming out, he was given an award for being an openly gay man in media. he’s an advocate for gay rights and has made a difference in the community, at least a little bit, which is why they felt the need to give him something to show their appreciation. if it were for simply coming out, then Neil Patrick Harris and Ricky Martin would have gotten something, too.
along with the countless other celebs who have come out
Madonna is wearing a Cub Sc out uniform not a Boy Scout uniform and frankly I am tired hearing about Madonna
How funny. I think this is one of the best things Madonna has done in a while. It showcases her wit and I see the woman and the pop star I used to love. If you watched it, you would see that AC says he doesn’t deserve this award. He speaks for all those stories, told and untold. And he REALLY IS a “bad motherfucker.” He has gone to some very scary places and dealt with some very scary people where being gay, or even because he is an American, could have gotten him killed. This is great!
Reynolds, with all due respect, it is still genital mutilation that the boy has no choice in. Why should a parent/parents have the right to make that kind of choice that affects him the rest of his life? It would be better to teach parents how to teach their sons foreskin cleanliness. I will always associate circumcision as mutilation, regardless of sex. No one, and I mean NO ONE, has the right to mutilate another person’s body without their permission.
Oh Kimberly get off the cross, we need the wood
Who cares if its Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts uniform?.
what the fuck is this all about???looks like anderson is the one kissing madonna
So what Dee, I kiss women, it’s doesn’t mean a thing sexually
what a great time to be alive. =]