Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Beginners, Albert Nobbs, J. Edgar, Pariah, Weekend,
Gun Hill Road, Modern Family, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Shameless, NCIS,
We Were Here, Dancing with the Stars, Conan, Ebony, Marie Claire,
TheRoot.com, Las Aparicio Among Nominees

Los Angeles, Thursday, January 19, 2012 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, announced today the nominees for its 23^rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards.  By recognizing and honoring media for outstanding images of the LGBT community, the GLAAD Media Awards serve as a benchmark for the media industry and complement GLAAD’s work to bring LGBT images and stories to Americans.

Among the nominees: Beginners, starring Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor, Albert Nobbs, starring Glenn Close and Janet McTeer, J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer, Showtime's hit shows Shameless and The Big C, Glee, Modern Family, CBS ratings leader NCIS, Becoming Chaz, the AIDS documentary We Were Here, Dancing with the Stars with Carson Kressley and Chaz Bono, the wedding of a gay staffer on Conan, David Letterman's interview with Chaz Bono, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, TheRoot.com's "Black and Transgender: A Double Burden," and Lady Gaga for her Born This Way album.

Spanish-language nominees include Ricky Martin for his album Música + Alma + Sexo, telenovelas Las Aparicio, Los Exitosos Gome$, and El Último Matrimonio Feliz, news programs Noticiero con Paola Rojas and Despierta América, and ESPN Deportes' SportsCenter.

A complete list of GLAAD Media Awards nominees may be found here: www.glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees.  Additional facts and figures about this year's 151 nominees may be found here: www.glaad.org/mediawards/23/factsandfigures. 

"As media continue to tell new stories about LGBT people and families, a majority of Americans now support full equality of LGBT Americans," said Mike Thompson, GLAAD’s Acting President.  "This year’s nominees enlighten and entertain, while spotlighting the diversity of our community. Audiences expect to see their own worlds reflected in media, and today more than ever, those include the lives of LGBT people. Viewers know that LGBT characters and stories are simply natural extensions of, and glimpses into, their own experiences from across America."

The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in New York on March 24, 2012 at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square; in Los Angeles on April 21 at the Westin Bonaventure; and in San Francisco on June 2 at San Francisco Marriott Marquis.  Special Honorees for each city will be announced in the coming weeks.

GLAAD announced 116 nominees in 25 English-language categories, and 35 Spanish-language nominees in 10 categories.  In the English-language categories, cable networks earned 23 nominations, while broadcast networks garnered 19 nominations.

To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad and use the hashtag #glaadawards.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives. 

The 23^rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released or broadcast between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.  Nearly 1,000 media projects were considered by over 85 volunteers serving on seven nominating juries.  Each year, the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco bring together more than 5,000 supporters to raise nearly $3.5 million for the organization's work.

More than 100 corporate partners are showing their support, including National Presenting corporate partners Rokk Vodka and Wells Fargo, New York Presenting corporate partners Delta Air Lines and Prudential, Los Angeles Presenting corporate partner Delta Air Lines, and San Francisco Presenting corporate partner Southwest Airlines.  GLAAD is also grateful to the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards Platinum Underwriter corporate partners: Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Comcast, IBM and Time Warner, as well as Underwriter corporate partners: Allstate Insurance Company, AT&T, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, David Yurman, New York City Marriott & Renaissance Hotels, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and VPI Pet Insurance.  For a full list of corporate partners and information on how to become a corporate partner, or to become a table host, purchase tickets or place a tribute in the tribute book, please visit www.glaad.org/mediaawards or call 212-219-0111.