Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 09:47:33 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: LESBIAN AND GAY MEDIA ADVOCACY GROUP CONGRATULATES INCLUSIVE EMMY NOMINEES - 50th ANNUAL AWARDS FEATURE LESBIAN- AND GAY- THEMED NOMINEES, INCLUDING ACTRESS ELLEN DEGENERES MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: William Horn phone: (213) 658-6775 pager: (800) 946-4646, pin#1423528 e-mail: horn@glaad.org LESBIAN AND GAY MEDIA ADVOCACY GROUP CONGRATULATES INCLUSIVE EMMY NOMINEES 50th ANNUAL AWARDS FEATURE LESBIAN- AND GAY- THEMED NOMINEES, INCLUDING ACTRESS ELLEN DEGENERES LOS ANGELES, CA, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1998-The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today congratulated lesbian- and gay-inclusive programs, outstanding performances, and openly lesbian actress Ellen DeGeneres on garnering nominations for television's most prestigious award, the Emmy. The nominees for the 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced earlier today in Los Angeles by actors Jane Leeves (Frasier) and Anthony Edwards (ER). The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' award ceremony will be broadcast live on Sunday, September 13, 1998 on NBC. "Only a few short years ago, lesbian and gay images on primetime television were few and far between," said William Horn, GLAAD Assistant Entertainment Media Director. "GLAAD is enthusiastic about the continuing inclusion of a more diverse portrait of our community on TV. We congratulate all of this year's Emmy-nominees for receiving such an outstanding acknowledgment from their industry." Ellen DeGeneres was acknowledged by the Academy with a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. DeGeneres-who was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award at GLAAD's Media Awards ceremony-made television history last year when both the actress and her title character on the sitcom Ellen came out. At last September's Emmys, both DeGeneres and the Ellen writing team were honored with an Outstanding Comedy Series Writing award for the "Puppy Episode," the sitcom's groundbreaking coming out episode. The same episode won a Peabody Award this year. Television programs with recurring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters nominated this year include ER (Dr. Maggie Doyle), The Larry Sanders Show (Brian), NYPD Blue (Officer Abby Sullivan) and The Simpsons (Waylon Smithers). Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City was honored with a nomination for Outstanding Miniseries. The HBO movie Gia was nominated for Outstanding Made for Television TV Movie and Golden-Globe winner Angelina Jolie was nominated for her title role as the lesbian supermodel. In all, More Tales garnered five nominations, and Gia six. Oscar-winners Olympia Dukakis and Emma Thompson were both nominated as well. Dukakis, who reprised her role as transgender den mother Anna Madrigal in Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie; Thompson in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as a closeted lesbian on Ellen . GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. -30- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's DISPATCH AND QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.