GLAAD celebrates 25 years of gay rights campaigning

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has celebrated 25 years of campaigning.

The group was formed in 1987 in New York to protest the New York Post’s reporting of HIV and AIDS.

A cocktail party was held in California last Friday to celebrate the milestone.

Prominent LGBT figures including Chaz Bono, Amber Heard and Steven Weber joined GLAAD founding members at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Los Angeles.

The GLAAD Pioneer Award was awarded to executive producer Jonathan Murray of Bunim/Murray Productions for highlighting LGBT people in shows such as Project Runway and The Real World, while Richard Jennings, the former president and executive director of GLAAD, was given the GLAAD Founders’ Award.

The group’s president, Jarrett Barrios, said: “Since 1985, GLAAD has amplified stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people that build acceptance and advance equality through news, entertainment and today, on Facebook and social media outlets.

“Continuing to share these stories is moving the public to support our full legal equality and will lead to a nation where we are all accepted, respected and valued.”