This is a good decision. With gay media such as Logo and Here! making major breaktroughs, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has decided to include gay media in its annual awards which recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.
But those awards had been limited to mainstream print and broadcast organizations and the exclusion of LGBT media had led to some increasingly bitter feelings. Now all media can compete in the existing categories.
“With the expansion of cable channels and niche programming, LGBT created and consumed media is more readily available than ever before,” stated GLAAD President Neil Giuliano. (pictured below with Ang Lee) “Our Board has decided to incorporate LGBT media submissions into the existing competitive categories. We welcome the opportunity for LGBT media to submit their journalism and programming for consideration.”
In the 1990s, the GLAAD Media Awards had specific LGBT media categories. Due to a lack of submissions and a tension arising from the LGBT media that did not want to be judged and evaluated by GLAAD, the categories were eliminated in 2000.

The four dates and venues for the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards taking place in 2008 were also announced. The first event will be held in New York at the Marriott Marquis on Monday, March 17, 2008. The Los Angeles event will return for the seventh consecutive year to the Kodak Theatre on Saturday, April 26. The San Francisco event will be held on Saturday, May 10 at the San Francisco Marriott. For the third consecutive year, GLAAD's event honoring LGBT images in Spanish-language media will be held in South Florida on Saturday, April 12 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.