Emmy and Tony winner Judith Light (Karen Wolek, One Life to Live) will be honored with the Excellence in Media Award at the 33rd annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York next month. The actress had been set to receive the honor at the 2020 GLAAD Media Awards, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the event into going virtual, and the honor was postponed.
"The great @JudithLight will receive the Excellence in Media Award at the #GLAADawards in NYC on May 6th," shared GLAAD on its official Twitter account. "GLAAD's Excellence in Media Award is presented to media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people."
The great @JudithLight will receive the Excellence in Media Award at the #GLAADawards in NYC on May 6th. GLAAD's Excellence in Media Award is presented to media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people. pic.twitter.com/wKAxd7phSS
— GLAAD (@glaad) April 12, 2022
"Judith Light stood up for and with LGBTQ people when others in media and entertainment refused to speak up, and she has never left our side," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis when Light was scheduled to receive the award in 2020. "When the GLAAD Media Awards first started and was a small event with little visibility, she was one of the few entertainers who would join us in calling for LGBTQ representation, so it is only fitting to now honor her advocacy on what has become the largest LGBTQ stage in the world. From standing alongside LGBTQ people during the AIDS crisis, to fighting for marriage equality, to now uplifting transgender people and issues, Judith advocates with a unique passion and an unending dedication that uplifts."
Actress Ariana DeBose, who recently won the Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars for her performance in West Side Story, will present the prize to Light during the May 6 ceremony, which is being hosted by Peloton instructor Cody Rigby and RuPaul's Drag Race veteran Peppermint.
The GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. GLAAD's Excellence in Media Award is presented to media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people. Light follows previous honorees Julianne Moore (Sabrina/Frannie Hughes, As the World Turns), Ava DuVernay, Robert De Niro, Patti LaBelle, Debra Messing, Tyra Banks, Glenn Close, Barbara Walters, and Diane Sawyer, among others.
Light kicked off her acting career with the role of OLTL's Karen in 1977 and earned two consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the ABC soap. She went on to find mainstream success in the 1980s sitcom Who's the Boss. Some of her more recent credits include the Golden Globe-winning Amazon series Transparent, the Emmy-winning The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, STARZ horror comedy Shining Vale, HBO Max's Julia, and Ryan Murphy's series The Politician and Impeachment.
In 2019, Light was also honored with the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for her extensive philanthropy work, especially in fighting to end AIDS and championing LGBTQ and human rights.
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