Charles Sykes, Invision (AP)
NEW YORK — Actor and LGBT rights activist George Takei received the Vito Russo award at the 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremony in New York on Saturday night.
The award is presented to an openly gay media professional for promoting equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, and is named after one of GLAAD’s co-founders and the author of “The Celluloid Closet.”
“As long as LGBT people can be fired from their job for simply being who they are, our work isn’t done yet,” Takei said, in accepting the award.
“As long as young people are kicked out of their families just for being who they are, our work is not done yet. As long as people are be bullied into feeling that their lives are so hopeless that they are driven to self-destructive acts, our work is not done,” he said.
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In other awards, the Netflix series, “Orange Is the New Black,” set in a women’s prison, was named outstanding comedy series by GLAAD.
Cast members – including Laverne Cox, who won her own GLAAD honor at the organization’s Los Angeles awards ceremony last month – accepted the award Saturday at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Also capturing GLAAD awards at Saturday’s event included the films “Concussion” and “Philomena” and Oprah Winfrey’s interview with openly gay professional basketball player Jason Collins.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize fair, accurate and inclusive representation in media of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives.
