Jennifer Lopez, Laverne Cox Honored at GLAAD Media Awards

Jennifer Lopez and Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox were both honored Saturday night at the GLAAD Media Awards The Hollywood Reporterreports.

Lopez received GLAADs Vanguard Award, which recognizes efforts to increase visibility and understanding of the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender community. Lopez serves as executive producer of the ABC Family show The Fosters, which focuses on a lesbian couple raising two foster children in addition to their own twins. (The show also won an award from the organization for Drama Series.) Rito Moreno presented her with the award. Its ironic that Jennifer Lopez has been so successful as a judge on American Idolbecause the woman in real life does not judge, she said.

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Ellen Page presented the Stephen F. Kolzak award to Laverne Cox, and mentioned her own recent dramatic coming out speech during the Human Rights Campaigns Time to Thrive conference in February. Many of you know that I officially came out on Valentines Day, she said. One of the best things about it was the way it enabled me to publicly show support for the people who inspire me and give me courage.

The Stephen F. Kolzak Award honors gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender members of the entertainment community, and the Orange Is the New Black star touched on her own history in her moving acceptance speech. Im an African-American transgender woman from a working class background raised by a single mother, she said. We are not programmed to think we should receive these kind of awards, but Id like to think that things are changing.

Tegan and Sara also received a GLAAD award for Music Artist and All In the Family producer Norman Lear received the organizations Pioneer Award.