GLAAD Media Awards: Ellen and Portia win, Jennifer Holliday sings, Kathy Griffin shows off bikini bod

You had to know going in that honoree Kathy Griffin was going to steal the show at the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles Saturday night.

But after fellow redhead Coco Peru – the evening’s hostess – had the audience in stitches, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi won an award followed by a win for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Megan Mullally, the D-Lister had her work cut out for her. Then there was the passionate and inspiring speech given by Rev. Gene Robinson that brought the crowd to its feet, the touching farewell remarks from outgoing GLAAD Executive Director Neil Giuliano, an expletive-laden acceptance speech from Prop. 8: The Musical director Alan Shankman, and the outstanding feature film award to Milk accepted by director Gus Van Sant, writer Dustin Lance Black and producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.

So what could Kathy do at that point?  Would she kiss a girl like at the Bravo A-List Awards? Would she say “Suck it Jesus” like she did at the Emmys a few years ago? Nope and nope. She walked out to accept the Vanguard Award from T.R. Knight wearing nothing but a bikini.

“I have no shame!” she said after doing several modeling poses at the podium. “Anything for a laugh. Cellulite be damned, fuck it I’m here!”

Sbe was honored to be receiving such a “high and mighty award.”

“Last year, Ellen gave it to Janet Jsckson – although let me tell you her entire speech was insufferable. It was totally humorless!”

Kathy joked that Knight was recruited at the last minute because everyone from Ryan Seacrest to Oprah (and Gayle) had already passed saying she was told: “Nobody wants to give it to you – even of the people who are going to be there tonight.”

But after watching a series of clips of Kathy doing comedy and talking serious about gays and the fight for equality, it was very clear why she was being honored and why she is so beloved by what she calls “my gays.”

“I appreciate you, I get you, I love you,” she said at the end of her speech. “I will continue to make you laugh as long as you let me.”

Griffin’s award came at the end of a fairly long show which led hostess Peru to crack: “God, is this show still going on? I’ve already had to shave twice during it.”

Peru then introduced the evening’s final performer: Tony winner Jennifer Holliday, Broadway’s Effie from Dreamgirls! Now, I love her rendition of And I’m Telling You I”m Not Going and even own the soundtrack so I’m a fan. But it was a strange performance in that until about halfway through, many in the audience were not sure if it really was Miss Holliday or some drag performer parodying Miss Hollliday. Her unique facial contortions and vocal style during this particular song were not ideally suited for the giant screens at the Nokia Theatre is the most diplomatic way I can put it. But as she began to soar vocally in the second half, there was no denying this was the original Effie.

Here is a recap of the evening as I saw it from my seat in row HH:

Ellen DeGeneres won for best talk show for the episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year that focused on her wedding to Portia de Rossi. Ellen, Portia and the show’s producers and other behind-the-scenes folks took to the stage to accept but Ellen did most of the talking: “I feel very fortunate that I have this kind of love and that I got to share this with a lot of people who might not understand it. … Love comes in lots of different forms. I am flabbergasted by the fact that we’re still trying to fight. I’m not fighting for gay rights, I’m fighting for equal rights.”

Ellen then dedicated the award to Carl Walker Hoover, the 11-year-old boy who recently killed himself after being bullied and being called anti-gay slurs by classmates: “This is not okay that this is still happening … this has got to stop.”

The adorable Teri Hatcher and the adorable Bill Paxton presented New Adventures of Old Christine the GLAAD award for best individual episode.

Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus cracked: “Everybody is nice here and pleasant. It’s really refreshing.” She then said she didn’t do her LGBT-themed episode to make some kind of political statement but did it because “I just really wanted to kiss (guest star) Megan Mullally.”

At this point, Mullally took the mic and said with perfect timing: “It’s understandable.”

Julia then gave props to absent – and now very out – co-star Wanda Sykes and added: “We are honored to receive this award from such a gay organization.”

Dustin Lance Black and Cleve Jones were inspired choices to present Rev. Gene Robinson with GLAAD’s Stephen P. Kolzak Award. When it was Black’s turn to speak, the teleprompter malfunctioned but he was quick on his feet and spoke from his heart: “He reminds me a lot of Harvey (Milk). He didn’t wait until people said, ‘Now is the time.’”

If there was anyone in the audience not aware of Robinson’s story and his role as a spokesman for LGBT rights, the video shown before he came onstage was one terrific primer and probably contributed to why he received the two most heartfelt standing ovations of the night.

His speech was the emotional highlight of the night: “God never gets it wrong but the church often does,” he saiod near the beginning. … The religious rigjt has taken scripture hostage and it’s time we took it back.” He then focused on the young high school and college students in the crowd and gave them and everyone some advice including: “Tolerance is not enough. … It’s time that we focus more on the kinds of gifts that we bring to the world.”

He told everyone that they need to “toughen up” in the fight for equality and said of the civil rights battle of the 1960s: “They knew they would face snarling dogs and fire hoses and sometimes even death and they went anyway.” Robinson also said: “We need to learn to live our life with such joy that there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the light of God is in us.”

Just seconds after Robinson left the stage, Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli bounded on and it required a quick adjustment for the audience to go from dignified to wonderfully flamboyant: “You can be way out of the closet and still be welcomed into tens of millions of homes in America” he said before asking for an audience member’s phone number. What a character. Bruno was there to introduce the handsome, talented – and out! – Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson who sang Sam Cooke’s Change is Gonna Come accompanied by Lance Horne on the piano.

Peru remarked after the performance: “Will someone please introduce Cheyenne to (gay porn) producer Chi Chi Larue. He’s hot!”

True that!

Alec Mapa and Kate Walsh presented the best comedy series award to Desperate Housewives. Although creator Marc Cherry did the talking, he was surrounded by many of the show’s cast members including Hatcher, Dana Delaney, Kyle MacLachlan, Brenda Storm, Andrea Bowen and Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm who play Wisteria Lane’s gay couple.

The delightful Alan Cumming was a fun choice to pay tribute to Showtime’s The L Word which just wound up its sixth and final season. I wish I could say that show creator and executive producer Ilene Chaiken was a good choice to accept the award. She took the stage with three of the show’s actresses – including the regal Jennifer Beals - then forced them to stand there like statues as she prattled on and gave the longest speech of the night. I’m not trying to be mean or snarky when I say it was awful. But it was delivered with absolute long-winded conviction. I don’t know what she was thinking but she ended it well in a cry out for more lesbian dramas: “Let’s do it again, let’s do it often, let’s do it always.”

Wilson Cruz and Justina Machado were a wonderful presenting pair as they handed out the award for best Spanish-language news story: “We’re older than we look,” Wilson told the audience. “We’re Latin. It’s the trade off: you get to be white and powerful, we get to be young and pretty forever.”

Another inspired pairing was that of Star Trek royalty George Takei and Michelle Nichols who have been close friends off-screen for decades.

“I’m so grateful to not only have a wonderful gal pal like you, but you have also been a stellar supporter of the entire LGBT community all these years,” Sulu said to Uhura.

They then honored Proposition 8: The Musical when was performed onstage by members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles with guest star Coco Peru. Director Adam Shankman had a bit of a potty mouth when he accepted the award: “Fuckin’ George Takei and Nichelle Nichols. Awesome! So fuckin’ cool!”

He then made a dig at the length of the kudofest – and maybe directly at Ilene Chaiken: “We gauys can rattle on can ‘t we. GLAAD, if I direct the sbow next year, an hour shorter – same impact.”

Not the classiest winner in the bunch I must say. Then the Hairspray director explained how he got the Proposition 8: The Musical cast together in a matter of days: “We twittered our asses off to find anyone who would fuckin’ do it.”

Someone wash this dude’s mouth out with soap! Sheesh.

Far classier was the quartet of Gus Van Sant, Dustin Lance Black, Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks as they accepted the best motion picture (wide release) award from Jessica Alba for Milk.

Said Jinks: “I like to believe that Harvey Milk is somewhere in heaven with the  biggest smile on his face right now – (but) not as big as if we’d won the Oscar!” The producer also paid tribute to Black who did win an Oscar for screenwriting: “If they could give an Academy Award for an Academy Award speech, you’d have your second Oscar.”

When Black – so composed and eloquent during his Oscar speech – took the microphone, he wondered: “Why am I so much more nervous here?” He paid tribute to all of the writers in the room who have pushed hard to include LGBT stories in their shows something he said is “letting America know that we are part of the fabric of this country and is going to be so helpful in our fight for full federal equality.”

It was also GLAAD Executive Director Neil Giuliano’s chance to say goodbye as he prepares to leave the organization after three years at the helm. He told the crowd: “Now is our time. Now is  your  time to be more visible and louder than ever.”

Later today: My red carpet recap of the GLAAD Media Awards

Photos: Reuters