Arts & Entertainment
GLAAD Media Awards will go on – virtually, of course
Two Blade reporters up for honors this year
With the initial spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. back in the early months of 2020, perhaps the first definitive proof that it had hit crisis-level proportions was the widespread cancellation of live events nationwide.
Every corner of the media and entertainment industry was impacted. Concerts, theatrical performances, award shows, conventions, lecture tours – every large in-person event across the country was either cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future.
Among those were the two annual presentations of GLAAD’s Media Awards. The LGBTQ advocacy group was forced to pull the plug on both its planned ceremonies, set for New York and Los Angeles, and leave them in limbo for what we all then hoped would be only a month or two, at most, surely.
Now, as the country faces a new and even more alarming surge in the pandemic, GLAAD is stepping up to the plate to remind us that, despite whatever other challenges the world may be facing as we move into an increasingly uncertain future, the fight for equality must go on – and befitting its role as one of the foremost leaders in that fight, the organization has decided that it’s time for the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards to go on.
Slated for Thursday, July 30, the awards (which honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues) will be presented in a streaming event over GLAAD’s Facebook and YouTube platforms at 8 p.m., before airing on Logo on Aug. 3 (also at 8 p.m.). Taking the place of both original ceremonies planned for earlier this year, the virtual ceremony may not be the gala event that has become an annual tradition since its inception in 1990, but it will nevertheless continue the Media Awards’ legacy of sending powerful messages of acceptance to audiences globally as the most visible annual LGBTQ awards show in the world.
In January, GLAAD announced more than 175 nominees in 30 categories. These include nods for “Bombshell,” “Booksmart,” “Downton Abbey,” “Rocketman,” “Adam,” “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” and several other films in both the Wide and Limited Release categories; “Batwoman,” “Billions,” “Euphoria,” “Pose,” “The L-Word: Generation Q,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Dear White People,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Sex Education,” “Vida,” and many more TV shows in the Drama and Comedy categories, as well as a long list of other programs and films made for television; Adam Lambert, Brittany Howard, Lil Nas X, Melissa Etheridge, Mika, Tegan and Sara, and several other big LGBTQ names are in the competition for Outstanding Music Artist; there are categories for Outstanding Comic Book and Outstanding Video Game, as well as the returning category for Outstanding Broadway Production; in addition, the Outstanding Kids & Family Programming category expanded to 10 nominees as a result of an increase in LGBTQ images across kids and family television programming and an increase in GLAAD’s work to advocate for inclusion in this genre. If all that weren’t enough, there’s another whole list of Spanish-language nominations.
Of course, entertainment is only one side of the media – there’s also its all-important role in providing news and information, something GLAAD recognizes with awards for Outstanding achievement in LGBTQ journalism. Among those being acknowledged in these categories are two of the Blade’s own reporters.
Nominated for Outstanding Newspaper Article is Chris Johnson, for “Military Reports No Discharges Under Trans Ban — But Advocates Have Doubts,” which appeared in the Washington Blade in August 2019. A deep-dive into the ongoing legal battles in the wake of President Trump’s controversial, tweeted 2017 proclamation that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the U.S. military, the article is a strong contender against other nominated work from such journalistic heavy-hitters as both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
One of the ceremony’s certain winners, as announced all the way back in January, will be the Los Angeles Blade’s Karen Ocamb, a longtime giant of LGBTQ journalism in L.A. Along with Philadelphia Gay News founder and publisher Mark Segal and the Netflix series, “Special,” Ocamb is one of three recipients of Special Recognition Awards from GLAAD.
Los Angeles Blade Publisher Troy Masters says, “I am so proud to work with Karen Ocamb on a near daily basis. She is a powerful brain trust on LGBT and AIDS matters. Her integrity and devotion to truth have immensely benefited the LGBTQ community of Los Angeles and nationally, and it has made the Los Angeles Blade a force in journalism. Karen has added mightily to our partnership with the Washington Blade.”
As for Ocamb, she says, “I was surprised to receive the Special Recognition from GLAAD. I’ve been hesitant to submit any of my work for award consideration because it felt like a possible conflict of interest. But being recognized as an heir to LGBTQ reporters such as Jim Kepner and Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon is an incredible honor. And I greatly appreciate GLAAD serving as a watchdog over if and how our stories are being told since we are still a long way from full equality.”
Ocamb’s comments resonate with those of GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who said in a statement, “Among this year’s nominees are a wide range of stories and narratives about LGBTQ people of different races, ethnicities, genders, religions, and other identities that demonstrate the power of inclusion and diversity in fostering positive cultural change. As this year’s Media Awards go virtual, we hope to send a powerful message to LGBTQ people that in the midst of this culturally and politically divisive time, our visibility and voices have never been more important.”
It’s safe to say that a good number of the famous names and faces from that list of nominees will be making an appearance on July 30, but you’ll have to watch the ceremony to find out who the winners are.
Comedians Fortune Feimster and Gina Yashere will host, and there will be a special performance from Grammy-nominated duo Chloe x Halle. Special guests will include Cara Delevingne (“Suicide Squad,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”), Kaitlyn Dever (“Booksmart”), WWE superstar Sonya Deville, Beanie Feldstein (“Booksmart”), Jonica T. Gibbs (“Twenties”), Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”), Lil Nas X, Rachel Maddow (“The Rachel Maddow Show”), Ryan O’Connell (“Special”), Dolly Parton, Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Head Over Heels”), the cast and producers of “Pose,” trans model and advocate Geena Rocero, Angelica Ross (“Pose,” “American Horror Story”), comedian Benito Skinner, Brian Michael Smith (“9-1-1: Lone Star,” “The L Word: Generation Q”), Dwyane Wade & Gabrielle Union, Lena Waithe (“Master of None,” “Queen & Slim,” “Twenties”), Olivia Wilde (“Booksmart,” “House”), and Raquel Willis (Writer, Activist, Director of Communications for Ms. Foundation).
For more information, visit glaad.org/mediaawards and follow @glaad and #glaadawards.
History
Julius’ Bar ‘sip-in’ laid groundwork for Stonewall
Tuesday marked 60 years since four gay activists held protest
While Stonewall is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S., a lesser-known protest inside a Greenwich Village bar three years earlier helped lay critical groundwork for what would follow.
Tuesday marked 60 years since the Julius’ Bar “sip in.”
On April 21, 1966, four gay rights activists — Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, and later Randy Wicker — walked into Julius’ Bar and staged what would become known as a “sip-in” to challenge state liquor regulations on serving alcoholic beverages to gay men — with a drink.
Modeled after the sit-ins that challenged racial segregation across the American South, the protest was designed to confront discriminatory practices targeting LGBTQ patrons in public spaces.
At the time, the Mattachine Society — one of the country’s earliest gay rights groups — was actively pushing back against policies enforced by the New York State Liquor Authority. One of those policies could have resulted in the loss of liquor licenses for serving known or suspected gay men and lesbians. The participants had visited multiple establishments, openly identified themselves as homosexual, and requested a drink — with the anticipation of being denied.
Their final stop was Julius’, where reporters and a photographer had gathered to document the moment. When Leitsch declared their identity, the bartender covered their glasses and refused service, reportedly saying, “I think it’s against the law.” The next day, the New York Times ran a story with the headline, “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars,” cementing the moment in the public record.
Though initially framed with disrespect — the term “sip-in” itself was coined as a play on civil rights protests — the action marked a turning point. It brought national attention to the systemic discrimination LGBTQ people faced and helped catalyze changes in how liquor laws were enforced. In the years that followed, the protest contributed to the emergence of licensed, more openly gay-friendly bars, which became central social and organizing spaces for LGBTQ communities.
The Washington Blade originally covered when the bar was officially added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Today, historians and advocates increasingly recognize the “sip-in” as a key pre-Stonewall milestone. According to the New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, the protest not only increased visibility of the early LGBTQ rights movement but also exposed widespread surveillance and entrapment tactics used against the community.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the event, commemorations have taken place in New York and across the country. Reflecting on its enduring legacy, Amanda Davis, executive director of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, spoke about the event.
“Julius’ Bar is a place you can visit and viscerally connect with history,” said Davis. “We’re thrilled to have solidarity locations across the country join us in commemorating the ‘sip-in’’s 60th anniversary and the queer community’s First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”
For current stewards of the historic bar, the responsibility of preserving that legacy remains front of mind.
“It’s a privilege and a responsibility to be the steward of a place so important to American and LGBTQ history,” said current owner of Julius’ Bar, Helen Buford. “The events of the 1966 Sip-In here at Julius’ resonated across the country and inspired countless others to stand proud for their rights.”
The timing couldn’t have come at a more important moment, Kymn Goldstein, executive director of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, explained.
“At a time when our community faces renewed challenges, coming together in resilience and solidarity reminds us of the power in our collective resistance,” Goldstein said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to defending rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, is currently tracking 519 anti-LGBTQ bills across the U.S. The majority are targeted at restricting transgender rights — particularly related to gender-affirming care, sports participation, and the use of public bathrooms.
Some additional groups and bars that held their own “sip-in” as solidarity events to uplift this historic milestone are from across the country include:
Alice Austen House at Steiny’s Pub, Staten Island, N.Y.
Bellows Falls Pride Committee at PK’s Irish Pub, Bellows Falls, Vt.
Brick Road Coffee, Mesa, Ariz.
Brick Road Coffee, Tempe, Ariz.
Dick Leitsch’s Family at Old Louisville Brewery, Louisville, Ky.
The Faerie Playhouse & LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana at Le Cabaret, New Orleans
Harlem Pride & John Reddick at L’Artista Italian Kitchen & Bar, New York
JOYR!DE KiKi at Loafers Cocktail Bar, New York
Matthew Lawrence & Jason Tranchida / Headmaster at Deadbeats Bar, Providence, R.I.
Mazer Lesbian Archives at Alana’s Coffee, Los Angeles
New Hope Celebrates at The Club Room, New Hope, Pa.
Queer Memory Project at the University of Evansville Multicultural Student Commons / Ridgway University Center, Evansville, Ind.
Sandy Jack’s Bar, Brooklyn, N.Y.
St. Louis LGBT History Project at Just John Club, St. Louis
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch was held at Salamander Washington DC on Sunday, April 19. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was presented with the Allyship Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The umbrella LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C. held its annual Night of Champions Gala at the Georgetown Marriott on Saturday, April 18. Team D.C. presented scholarships to local student athletes and presented awards to Adam Peck, Manuel Montelongo (a.k.a. Mari Con Carne), Dr. Sara Varghai, Dan Martin and the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Sean Bartel was posthumously honored with the Most Valuable Person Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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