The GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award is a special GLAAD Media Award presented annually by the

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals i ...

. It is named in honor of the Los Angeles casting director

Stephen F. Kolzak Stephen F. Kolzak (February 19, 1953 – September, 19 1990) was an American Los Angeles casting director. He is best known for ''Altered States'' (1980), ''Cheers (TV series), Cheers'' (1982) and ''Bachelor Party (1984 film), Bachelor Party'' ( ...

, who devoted the last part of his life to fighting homophobia and AIDS-phobia within the entertainment industry. The award is given to an openly LGBT member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia. It has been awarded since 1991, with Kolzak being the posthumous inaugural recipient.

List of recipients

* 1991 -

(posthumous) * 1992 -

Paul Monette Paul Landry Monette (October 16, 1945 – February 10, 1995) was an American author, poet, and activist best known for his books about gay relationships. Early life and career Monette was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and graduated from Phil ...

and

Lillian Faderman Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an American historian whose books on lesbian history and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards. ''The New York Times'' named three of her books on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. In addi ...

* 1993 -

Sir Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

* 1994 - none * 1995 -

Pedro Zamora Pedro Pablo Zamora (born Pedro Pablo Zamora y Díaz, February 29, 1972 – November 11, 1994) was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality.''Pedro Zamora'', WPBT Channel 2-New Florida, November 11–17, 2004, Oscar Lopez Produce ...

* 1996 - none * 1997 - Bruce Vilanch * 1998 - Ellen DeGeneres * 1999 -

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

and Julie Cypher * 2000 -

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...

* 2001 -

Paris Barclay Paris K. C. Barclay (born June 30, 1956) is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television ...

* 2002 - Alan Ball * 2003 - Todd Haynes * 2004 - John Waters * 2005 -

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including '' Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago'', '' Kinsey'', ''Dreamgirls'', ' ...

* 2006 -

* 2007 -

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

* 2008 - Rufus Wainwright * 2009 - Gene Robinson * 2010 -

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...

* 2011 - Robert Greenblatt * 2012 -

Chaz Bono Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, ''The Sonny ...

* 2013 - Steve Warren (attorney) * 2014 - Laverne Cox * 2015 - Roland Emmerich * 2016 -

Ruby Rose Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986) is an Australian model, actress, disc jockey and television presenter. Rose was a presenter on MTV Australia (2007–2011), followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, including Maybelline New York ...

* 2017 -

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

* 2018 - Jim Parsons * 2019 - Sean Hayes * 2020 - Janet Mock * 2022 -

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez (born January 7, 1991), formerly known as MJ Rodriguez, is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several Performing arts, performing arts schools in her youth before being c ...

References

External links

Official GLAAD Media Awards website
{{GLAAD Media Awards Stephen F. Kolzak Award