Brokeback Mountain is tops at gay media awards

Ang Lee

NEW YORK - Oscar may have snubbed "Brokeback Mountain," but the so-called gay cowboy movie was tops with a gay watchdog group, adding the top prize to its burgeoning roster of honors at the GLAAD Media Awards.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation named the film, which lost an Oscar for best picture to "Crash," the year's best wide release motion picture at its 17th annual awards.

Director Ang Lee accepted the award, commenting: "Finally, an award that actually means something."

Noting that "Brokeback Mountain" had won a slew of awards, Lee said, "Some of these are very meaningful to me.

"OK, there was that one that got away, but that's OK," he quipped.

Lee, who received a standing ovation from the audience at a Manhattan hotel, said it would likely be "the very last award I will accept for 'Brokeback Mountain' ... And to end the journey here tonight is like coming home. The fact is 'Brokeback Mountain' has helped to change the world."

Other winners of GLAAD's annual awards, which recognize mainstream media for "fair, accurate and inclusive representations" of the gay community, included Newsweek for magazine coverage, the FX reality program "Straight/Gay 30 Days," and ESPN's SportsCenter for its news segment "Andrew Goldstein," which profiled a gay lacrosse goalie.

Presenters included Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas and comedienne and actress Sandra Bernhard. Writer-actor Bruce Vilanch, who has written the Oscar shows for several years, hosted the evening.

GLAAD was formed in New York in 1985 in response to sensationalized AIDS coverage by tabloid newspapers and local news stations.

- REUTERS