GLAAD Honors Glenn Close, Nathan Lane & The Invention of Love

By Andrew Gans
April 3, 2002

Tony winners Glenn Close and Nathan Lane were among those honored at the 13th Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards April 2.

Tony winners Glenn Close and Nathan Lane were among those honored at the 13th Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards April 2.

Close, who was most recently on Broadway as deranged silent-screen star Norma Desmond, was the recipient of the Excellence in Media Award, and Lane, who recently left his Tony-winning role in The Producers, received the Vito Russo Award. Alan Campbell, Close's co-star in Sunset Boulevard, presented the actress with her award, which honors an entertainer "who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." Lane's award honors a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender member of the entertainment world for his or her "outstanding contribution in combating homophobia." Lane was unable to attend the festivities, and his award was accepted on his behalf by Vito Russo's mother, Anne Russo, and his brother, Charles Russo.

The evening also honored two New York theatre productions. Tom Stoppard's Tony-winning play, The Invention of Love, received the award for Outstanding New York Theatre: Broadway & Off-Broadway, while Daniel MacIvor's In On It — about a dying man, two lovers working on their relationship and two gay men writing a play — was awarded the prize for Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off-Broadway.

The star-studded evening boasted a bevy of guests and presenters. Those celebrities on hand included Bea Arthur, Richard Belzer, Sonia Braga, Bill Brochtrup, Mark Consuelos, Ann Curry, Peter Gallagher, Valerie Harper, Deborah Harry, Finola Hughes, Audra McDonald, Rue McClanahan, Cynthia Nixon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kelly Ripa, Barbara Walters, Steven Weber and the company of The Producers.

The 13th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honor the best in journalism, film, TV and theatre. Other winners follows:
Outstanding Film — Limited Release: "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (Fine Line Features)
Outstanding Television Movie: "What Makes a Family" (Lifetime)
Outstanding Daytime Drama: "All My Children" (ABC Daytime)
Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage: USA Today
Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Leonard Pitts, Jr. (The Miami Herald)
Outstanding TV Journalism: "The Children Speak," 20/20 (ABC News)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The New York Times Magazine
Outstanding Advertising—Print: "Absolut GLAAD" Absolut Vodka

GLAAD is dedicated to promoting fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.