Gay, Lesbian Artists Alliance Presents Media Awards

The two words exercised most, by presenter and accepter alike, at the Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Artists’ Media Awards show at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Saturday night? Easy: “beyond” and “exploration.”

The awards--given to those TV shows, films and plays that portray gay and lesbian issues in a responsible fashion--had a progressive cast to them this year, the alliance’s eighth annual offering.

Significant of the trend was the new category honoring dramatic creations that illuminate contrasting--and not always flattering--sides of the gay/lesbian experience; as presenter Barry Bostwick put it, “the good, the bad and everything in between.”

The evening’s keynote was sounded by the alliance’s board chairman Josh Schiowitz, who called for the entertainment industry to “portray real, distinguished characters that go beyond the stereotype, beyond the crisis mentality, into the stuff of life.”

That, he said, includes the depiction of AIDS as a disease of society at large, and not merely a male homosexual phenomenon.

Among those TV programs honored for seeking to align gay concerns with human concerns in general were “9 to 5,” “St. Elsewhere” and “Designing Women.” Harry Thomason, one of the executive producers of “Designing Women,” choked up upon accepting the media award for his show, relating that his mother-in-law had recently died of AIDS from transfused blood.

The horror of and reaction to AIDS itself was the not the overriding issue for this year’s winners and honorable mentions. But “(AIDS) remains our highest priority issue,” Schiowitz said, and the presentation of the alliance’s Humanitarian Award to AIDS researcher Mathilde Krim underlined the words.

Steven Bochco, creator of “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “Hooperman” (the last of which also received a special commendation), received a special award from the alliance “for (Bochco’s) ongoing creation and achievement in promoting the responsible portrayal of gay and lesbian characters and issues on national prime-time network television.”

While accepting the award, Bochco remarked that he was keeping the award “until it becomes only an artifact of a past time where ignorance prevailed.”

Another new category of awards was unveiled, honoring non-fictional, non-documentary programs, such as talk shows, that explore the gay and lesbian experience with information and/or opinion. KABC-TV commentator Bill Press and talk show host Sally Jesse Raphael were given these awards.

Technical snafus marred the 2 1/2-hour ceremony. Singers’ microphones were non-functional, and several film clips from winning programs had to be canceled when power for the projectors failed.

A complete list of the AGLA Media Awards winners follows:

“Bent,” written by Martin Sherman; as presented at the Coast Playhouse.

“Burn This,” written by Lanford Wilson; as presented at the Mark Taper Forum.

Celebration Theatre’s 1987 season.

“A Death in the Family” (New Zealand), produced by James H. Wallace and directed by Stewart Main and Peter Wells.

“Designing Women” (“Killing All the Right People” episode), written and produced by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, CBS.

“Hooperman,” executive producers Robert M. Myman and Rick Kellard, ABC.

“Maurice,” produced by Ismail Merchant, directed by James Ivory, released by Cinecom International.

“9 to 5” (“One of the Girls” episode), written by Leslie Eberhard and Barbara Hobart and directed by Gary Shimokawa.

“Not All Parents Are Straight,” produced and directed by Kevin White, PBS.

Bill Press, KABC-TV commentator.

“Prick Up Your Ears,” screenplay by Alan Bennett, directed by Stephen Frears.

Purple Stages--A Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Culture, presented as part of the 1987 Fringe Festival/Los Angeles.

Sally Jesse Raphael, talk show host.

“St. Elsewhere,” executive producers Bruce Paltrow and Mark Tinker, NBC.

“The Truth About Alex,” teleplay by Craig Storper, directed by Paul Shapiro; HBO Family Playhouse.

“Too Little, Too Late,” produced and directed by Micki Dickoff, PBS.

“What If I’m Gay?” written by Paul Cooper and directed by Jeffrey D. Brown, CBS After-School Special.