Kristin Chenoweth Wins GLAAD Vanguard Award for Newsweek Response Piece

We were thrilled to learn that Kristin Chenoweth is the 2011 recipient of the Vanguard Award, presented annually at the Los Angeles GLAAD Media Awards to honor a member of the entertainment community who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for LGBT people. You probably remember back in May when the Newsweek/Ramin Setoodeh soap opera first began that it was K.Cheno who publicly stood up for gay actors -namely her Promises, Promises co-star Sean Hayes– when Setoodeh claimed that they can’t play straight.

But here’s where it gets interesting! Kristin actually consulted with our hero/Editor-in-Chief Riese when composing her response to Newsweek and it was Autostraddle who first broke the article to the media, so we consider this a big win in a lot of ways! After our post went live, it was picked up by nearly every media outlet on the web including the New York Times, The Huffington Post and E-Online. It became a topic of debate on The View, The Today Show and The Joy Behar Show and inspired an all-out Newsweek boycott from Glee creator, Ryan Murphy.

Prior to Kristin’s response, Setoodeh’s “Straight Jacket” article mostly just pissed off a bunch of gay bloggers but when Kristin spoke out it became something of a media phenomenon and most importantly put the spotlight on this very real Hollywood fear that is preventing tons of gay actors/actresses from coming out.

Kristin is a longtime supporter/lover of the gays and actually marched with Autostraddle in the National Equality March back in October 2009. I interviewed Kristin last summer, after the media storm quieted down to chat about her return to Glee, her brand new ensemble TV project, her strong Christian faith and her feelings about the overwhelming coverage of her Newsweek response article.

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Jess

Jess is a pop culture junkie living in New York City. She enjoys endless debates about The L Word, Howard Stern, new techy gadgets, DVR, exploring the labyrinth of the Lesbian Internet, memoirs, working out, sushi, making lists, artsy things, anything Lady Gaga touches, traveling, puppies, and nyc in the fall. Find her on Twitter @jessxnyc or via email.

Jess has written 240 articles for us.

16 Comments

  1. I love Kristen Chenoweth to death!!
    It’s pretty cool that Riese consulted her! I even forwarded the AS interview because it was good!

    She needs to be on Glee more often and she better be in Wicked the movie. *fingers crossed*

  2. I know this sounds ridiculous: 1) I know basically nothing about this girl Kristen Chenoweth but 2) I woke up to take the dog out this morning and her name was stuck in my head, repeating over and over.

    Happens a lot with random words/songs but it’s always weird when it’s something I’m not very familiar with. Just thought I’d share. ;P

  3. Every time I think I couldn’t adore Kristin Chenoweth more, she does something else awesome and proves me wrong! She’s amazing.

  4. Well done Kristin & AS! Watching Kristin in Wicked is still one of the most memorable performances I’ve ever seen on Broadway. Which, to be fair, only has competition with The Full Monty….but STILL.

  5. Dude.. congrats!! Woot Woot!
    No it’s time to step it up and conquer the world.. *insert evil laugh here*

  6. So, I love all thing Kristin Chenoweth (What’s not to love??) but I really want her back in Pushing Daisies, I loved that character… and the grandiose visuals in that show rocked my world.

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