The 2008 GLAAD Award nominees...

Being an openly gay actor was once considered the professional kiss of death. But Emmy-nominated actors T.R. Knight and Neil Patrick Harris have, thankfully, turned that assumption on its ear in recent years after Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell paved the way for lesbian TV stars.

But before any of them came out, a young actor by the name of Wilson Cruz was a pioneer in this regard in the mid-90s. He was cast in the ABC drama "My So-Called Life" and at just 19, he decided to be out as gay from the beginning.

I can think of no one more deserving than Wilson of a special award from The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which announced its honorees and nominees for the 19th annual GLAAD Media Awards at a press conference from the Sundance Film Festival Sunday evening.
Other special honorees include singers Janet Jackson and Rufus Wainwright and MTV Networks President Brian Graden.

"This year's honorees have used the power of their words, their music, and their art to advocate on behalf of the lesbian , gay, bisexual and transgender community," said GLAAD President Neil Giuliano. "They are changing hearts and minds, and opening people's eyes to the common, human experiences we share, and it is our privilege to honor them."

In the competitive movie categories, "Across the Universe," "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "Stardust" were nominated for outstanding wide release film while "The Bubble," "Dirty Laundry," "Itty Bitty Titty Committee," "Nina's Heavenly Delights" and "Whole New Thing" were the nominees for outstanding limited release film.

Nominated for outstanding drama series were ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" and "Dirty Sexy Money," Showtime's "The L Word," ABC Family's "Greek" and The N network's "Degrassi: The Next Generation." ABC also has two outstanding comedies nods with "Desperate Housewives" and "Ugly Betty." They will compete with Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program,' Fox's "The War at Home" and Logo's "Exes and Ohs."

Five TV series were nominated for individual episodes with LGBT content: "Cold Case," "Boston Legal," "Kyle XY," "My Name is Earl" and "Law & Order: SVU."

This marks the first year that gay media are eligible for GLAAD Awards which had previously only honored mainstream media. The here! channel, which had led the fight to include gay media, got its first nod in the outstanding TV movie or miniseries category with "The DL Chronicles" (pictured, right) which compete's with another gay channel show, Logo's "Daphne" as well as "The State Within" from BBC America.

Logo, one of Graden's MTV netowrks, dominated in the documentary category with "Camp Out," "Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed" and "Small Town Gay Bar." Also nominated were "Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison" and "For the Bible Tells Me."

Bravo, which is widely considered an unofficial gay network because of its LGBT content, snagged three of the five reality show nominations: "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," "Project Runway" and "Work Out."

The Los Angeles ceremony will take place on April 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Other ceremonies will be held on different dates in New York, San Francisco and South Florida. Check out this video of the nominees: