NORTH HOLLYWOOD — The LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD was named today the recipient of the Television Academy’s 2023 Governors Award, honoring its work to ensure fair and accurate representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries.
The organization will receive the honor during the Jan. 15 Emmy Awards ceremony, with GLAAD President/CEO Sarah Kate Ellis scheduled to accept the recognition.
“Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public,” Frank Scherma, chair of the Television Academy, said in a statement. “Through its education and advocacy programs, it has had a culture-changing impact.”
The Academy’s Governors Award honors an individual, company or organization — chosen by the Academy’s Board of Governors — that has “made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television.”
“GLAAD’s diligence and influence are especially critical in today’s world as we’re seeing a flood of anti-LGBTQ legislation being proposed across the country. We are honored to recognize GLAAD’s commitment to equality for all,” Governors Award Selection Committee Chair Kim Taylor-Coleman said in a statement.
GLAAD has worked for nearly 40 years to ensure voices and stories of the LGBTQ community are seen and heard, Academy officials said. The organization publishes a report annually tracking representation of the community on television, in terms of actual characters and storylines. It also
annually presents the GLAAD Media Awards that honor inclusive news and entertainment projects.
“This tremendous honor from the Television Academy is a testament to the historic and impactful work of GLAAD’s founders, board members and staff over the past four decades as well as the LGBTQ executives, creators and talent who are telling authentic LGBTQ stories on television,” Ellis said in a statement. “At a time when our world seems more divided and media plays an
outsized role in shaping culture, television has the unique power to tell human stories that grow empathy and acceptance. This honor is just the latest example of how the Television Academy plays a pivotal role in ensuring accurate and diverse storytelling, which educates, entertains and enlightens.”
Previous recipients of the Governors Award include the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Debbie Allen, Tyler Perry, “Star Trek,” “American Idol,” mtvU Campaign for Darfur, PBS,
— By City News Service, Inc.