In the first of three evenings that honor outstanding achievement in the media industries, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation began its 16th annual season of awards Monday evening at Manhattan’s Marriott Marquis Hotel.
Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas were on hand to present film and television actor and comedian Billy Crystal with the group’s excellence in media award. In his acceptance speech, Crystal spoke about his groundbreaking role as a gay character Jodie in the 1977 ABC prime time hit “Soap.”
“I took the part because I thought that we could do something different, that we could do something great and possibly important,” Crystal said “What we tried to do on the show, week after week, was make this a man who happened to be gay, get rid of the stereotype and make Jodie something different that television hadn’t seen before.”
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