GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, has announced it will honor former President Bill Clinton at the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.
Entertainment attorney Steve Warren will also receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award during the event at the JW Marriott on April 20, 2013.
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Bill Clinton will receive GLAAD’s first Advocate for Change Award during the event. In 2011, Clinton advocated for marriage equality in New York, stating that “for more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.” In 2012, he joined the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families in working against North Carolina’s proposed Amendment One to ban marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Most recently, he called for the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
During his administration, Clinton became the first U.S. President to appoint out gay and lesbian people to all levels of government. He appointed more than 150 including James Hormel as America’s first openly gay ambassador. During the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, his administration convened the first White House Conference on the epidemic, created the national AIDS Policy Coordinator post, and expanded funding for research. In 2002, his Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) began as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in the developing world.
“President Clinton’s support of the LGBT community and recognition that DOMA, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, is unconstitutional and should be struck down shows that the political landscape continues to change in favor of LGBT equality,” said GLAAD’s Wilson Cruz. “Leaders and allies like President Clinton are critical to moving our march for equality forward.”
GLAAD will present the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Steve Warren. Warren, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, has been a practicing entertainment lawyer for twenty-seven years. He is a name partner at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush & Kaller, LLP, specializing in the representation of actors, directors and writers. He served as the first out gay man on the Board of Trustees for his daughter’s school, the Center for Early Education, and currently serves as the first out gay man on the Board of Trustees at the Archer School for Girls. Warren joined GLAAD’s Board of Directors in 2010, and currently serves on the Executive Committee.
“Steve Warren’s work and career have opened doors for out professionals across the entertainment industry,” said Wilson Cruz. “In addition to advocating for LGBT people, he has continuously mobilized a large base of high-profile allies to help bring about social change,” said Cruz.
The Stephen F. Kolzak Award is named after a successful casting director who devoted the last part of his life to raising awareness in the entertainment industry about the discrimination faced by gay and HIV-positive people. The award is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for our community. Previous recipients include Ellen DeGeneres, Sir Ian McKellen, Bill Condon, Wanda Sykes, Alan Ball and Robert Greenblatt.
Additional special guests for the Los Angeles event include: Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, and Jennifer Lawrence. Additional presenters and LGBT advocates will be announced.
The 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles are presented nationally by Ketel One Vodka and Wells Fargo and locally by Delta Air Lines.
The final GLAAD Media Awards event will take place in San Francisco on May 11 at the Hilton San Francisco – Union Square where Adam Lambert will receive the Davidson/Valentini Award.
Nominees for the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards were announced in January and are available here. The New York GLAAD Media Awards were held on March 16 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. They also fund GLAAD’s work to amplify stories from the LGBT community that build support for equality. Each year, the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco bring together more than 5,000 advocates and allies to raise critical funds for the organization’s work.
