GLAAD Media Awards 2014: George Takei, Kylie Minogue, and more

If you're gearing up to see the special presentation of To Be Takei at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival here in Vancouver on Thursday (May 8) about George Takei, you'll be pleased to know that Takei received some high honours from the LGBT community this past weekend.

The Star Trek star and activist received the Vito Russo Award at the 25^th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City on May 3. The award was presented by Stafford Arima, director of the Broadway musical Allegiance, about the Japanese American internment starring Takei.  

The Vito Russo Award is named after one of GLAAD's founding members and recognizes an LGBT professional who has made a significant contribution to promoting equality. Previous winners include Anderson Cooper, Cynthia Nixon, Ricky Martin, and k.d. lang.

In his acceptance speech, Takei talked about before organizations like GLAAD, all he saw of LGBT people were caricatures and stereotypes created by the "soul-crushing monster" otherwise known as the media.

Philomena was named outstanding film while Orange is the New Black was named outstanding comedy series.

The Outstanding Talk Show episode went to Oprah's Next Chapter for an interview with openly gay NBA player Jason Collins and his family.

The New Yorker won best overall coverage for a magazine.

The New Civil Rights Movement was named outstanding blog.

Pop star Kylie Minogue, introduced by Boy George, performed at the awards, singing her hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head" a cappella.

Country star Kacey Musgraves became the first country star to perform at the GLAAD awards. She performed her pro-LGBT hit "Follow Your Arrow".

For a full list of winners, visit the GLAAD website.