NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS

Little Miss Sunshine, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office , Project Runway and Scissor Sisters are among the nominees for the GLAAD awards, which celebrate LGBT representation in the US media.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced the nominees and honourees for its 18th Annual Media Awards at a press conference in Park City, Utah on Sunday.

Among the nominees: critically acclaimed films Little Miss Sunshine and Quinceañera, the summer blockbuster Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, ABC’s new hit shows Brothers & Sisters and Ugly Betty, NBC’s hit sitcom The Office, the episodes “Where the Boys Are” from Grey’s Anatomy and “Blind Date” from 30 Rock, Project Runway, Nightline, CosmoGIRL! and two episodes of The Tyra Banks Show.

“These bold projects, images and voices have once again raised the bar for excellence in media representations of our lives,” said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. “As we continue to fight against forces that threaten our progress toward equality, it’s gratifying to be able to celebrate the creative accomplishments of those who are committed to sharing the truth of our lives and our stories.”

Ironically, the cast of Grey’s Anatomy has been embroiled in a media fracas after one of its star’s, Isaiah Washington, called his openly gay co-star T.R. Knight “a faggot” on the show’s set. Washington has since apologised amid calls that he be fired from the series.

The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in New York on March 26; in Los Angeles on April 14; in San Francisco on April 28; and in South Florida on May 10.

For the third consecutive year, the GLAAD Media Awards will be televised on Logo, MTV Networks’ cable channel for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers.

In addition to 122 nominees in 26 English-language categories, and 61 Spanish-language nominees in 16 categories, GLAAD also announced that it will recognise Special Honourees Patti LaBelle and Tom Ford at the New York ceremony, Martina Navratilova at the Los Angeles event, and Jaime Bayly in South Florida. Additional Special Honourees for Los Angeles, San Francisco and South Florida will be named at a later date.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognise and honour mainstream media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.

GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released or broadcast between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. Nearly 1,000 media projects were considered in 26 English-language and 16 Spanish-language categories.