The highlight of last night’s 75th Primetime Emmy Awards was GLAAD receiving the prestigious Governor’s Award for its “Culture Changing Impact” on the television entertainment industry. This was epic for our LGBTQ community & GLAAD to be finally recognized after 40 years of commitment & activism of changing hearts & minds. This is especially poignant at a time when our community is still dealing with over 600 anti LGBTQ bills in states across the country. When I won my Emmy back in 1982 I couldn’t be my authentic self in fear of being fired from CBS. So we have definitely come a long way since then but we still have a long way to go. In her acceptance speech Sarah Kate Ellis GLAAD President & CEO stated, “So many people have worked tirelessly to get LGBTQ representation here. For us this work is personal, for me, it’s about my wife & our kids. What the world sees on TV directly influences how we treat each other & the decisions we make in our living rooms, schools, at work & at the ballot box. The world urgently needs culture changing stories about transgender people. Because more Americans say they have seen a ghost than know a trans person. When you don’t know people, it’s easy to demonize them. Visibility creates understanding & opens doors, it’s life-saving. Our community has achieved so much & yet, we are still being villainized with cruel & harmful lies. Now is the time to take action – to support everyone in the LGBTQ community, because this story is still being told and we all can be the heroes. Thank you to the Television Academy & the Board of Governors.”
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