GLAAD hires actor Wilson Cruz

GLAAD announced the hiring of actor Wilson Cruz this week, along with the results of its sixth annual Network Responsibility Index. (Photo by Greg Hernandez via Wikimedia)

NEW YORK — The LGBT community’s most notable media watchdogs made two big announcements this week.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which took on a new leader earlier this year in Herndon Graddick, released its sixth annual Network Responsibility Index, rating television networks on LGBT images in programming. The 2012 iteration of the survey shows that among broadcast networks The CW remains at the top of the pack with more positive LGBT primetime programming hours than any other channel, also leading the pack with the highest percentage of LGBT people of color among those portrayals. ABC and Fox switch spots to rank at second and third respectively, NBC holds onto fourth place in concentration of positive time on screen, and CBS holds onto last place among the networks. It is also the only network to receive a failing grade.

This week the group also announced the hiring of actor and activist Wilson Cruz, who before appearing in recent movies “Party Monster” and “He’s Just Not That Into You,” gained attention in 1994 portraying the openly gay Rickie in the teen drama “My So Called Life,” which launched the careers of several other Hollywood notables, including Claire Danes and Jared Leto,

“Throughout his career, Cruz has been a strong advocate for LGBT Americans,” said Graddick about the former GLAAD board member.