18th ANNUAL GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS SPECIAL HONOREES
(additional honorees for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and South Florida to be announced at a later date)

Patti LaBelle
Excellence in Media Award
In over 40 years in the music business, two-time Grammy-winning recording artist Patti LaBelle has firmly established herself as one of the true legends of R&B.  As the front-woman of 1960s quartet, Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles, the 70s trio, LaBelle, and as a multi-platinum solo artist, she helped lay the groundwork for the many artists who would follow in her footsteps.  In addition to her extraordinary musical achievements, LaBelle has long been a champion for LGBT rights and AIDS-related charities. She was one of the first celebrities to criticize the AIDS crisis being wrongly labeled as a "gay disease," and is the spokeswoman for the National Minority AIDS Council's "Live Long, Sugar" campaign.  In addition to performing at NYC Gay Pride and Gay Games IV, LaBelle has spoken out against discrimination and has voiced her support for marriage equality.

The Excellence in Media Award is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  Past recipients include Billy Crystal, Julianne Moore, Diane Sawyer, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, and Phil Donahue.

Tom Ford
Vito Russo Award
Educated at the famed Parsons School of Design, Tom Ford is widely recognized as one of the most influential fashion designers in the world.  Ford is perhaps best known for his revitalization of the legendary fashion house Gucci in the 1990s.  During his time at Gucci, Ford also raised the fashion powerhouse's philanthropic profile, including involvement with AIDS Project Los Angeles, from which he received the "Commitment to Life Award."  Ford has always been very straightforward about being gay; he has been with his partner, fashion writer Richard Buckley, for twenty years.  In the spring of 2007, the first Tom Ford store will open its doors on Madison Avenue in New York City, showcasing his menswear collection.

The Vito Russo Award is named after a founding member of GLAAD and the author of The Celluloid Closet.  The award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for our community.  Previous Vito Russo Award honorees include Rosie O'Donnell, Alan Cumming, Nathan Lane, Cherry Jones, Elton John, Liz Smith, k.d. lang, David LaChapelle, and RuPaul.

Martina Navratilova
Stephen F. Kolzak Award
Arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, Martina Navratilova became one of the first professional sports figures to come out in 1981, at the height of her legendary singles career.  Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Navratilova emigrated to the United States in 1975 to pursue her professional dreams in an atmosphere of freedom.  She has won a record 167 career singles titles and 178 career doubles titles, including 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 41 Grand Slam doubles titles, and a record 9 Wimbledon women's singles titles. Throughout her career, which ended in 2006, Navratilova has also worked tirelessly on behalf of LGBT rights, including addressing the historic 1993 March on Washington which inspired her to create the Rainbow Card.  The Rainbow Card is an affinity credit card which allows users to donate to the LGBT community simply by using a credit card.  To date the program has raised more than 2 million dollars for LGBT non-profit organizations.

The Stephen F. Kolzak Award is named after a highly successful Los Angeles casting director who devoted the last part of his life to fighting AIDS-phobia and homophobia in the entertainment industry.  The award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for our community.  Previous Stephen F. Kolzak honorees include Melissa Etheridge, Bill Condon, Todd Haynes, Alan Ball, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sir Ian McKellen.

Jaime Bayly
Visibilidad Award
Openly bisexual Jaime Bayly has long been a presence in the Spanish language literary world, as well as on Spanish-language television.  Don't Tell Anyone, the semi-autobiographical first book by the Peruvian-born writer, was made into a film in 1998.  It tells the story of a boy from Lima who is coming to terms with his own sexual orientation.  This year, the film version of My Brother's Sister, another gay-themed Bayly novel, was released theatrically in the United States.  In 2006, Bayly received death threats after publicly denouncing the homophobic diatribes of Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala.  Bayly currently lives in Miami with his boyfriend, Argentine writer Luis Corbacho, where he hosts Bayly, his self-titled talk show, five days a week on Mega TV.

The Visibilidad Award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Spanish-language media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for our community.  Richard Pérez-Feria was the first recipient