Precious Director Lee Daniels
says he thought about killing himself when he was young because he's
gay.
Daniels talked about his experience
growing up gay in a homophobic world Saturday at the 21st
Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco.
“I come from a world where I was
beaten daily by my dad because of my gayness,” Daniels said in
accepting the group's Davidson/Valentini Award.
“I had bullies and I wanted to kill
myself,” he added.
Daniels told the crowd that the
experiences only strengthened his resolve to succeed.
Daniels became the first openly gay
African-American director to be nominated for an Academy Award for
his 2009 film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
Precious was also nominated for
a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film category for its
inclusion of the character Ms. Rain, an out lesbian teacher.
Cybill Shepherd, who played lesbian for
three seasons on Showtime's groundbreaking drama The L
Word, was given the Golden Gate Award.
“We stand on the shoulders of our
elders and I want to thank everyone who's worked so hard to make this
possible,” Shepherd said in accepting the award from her daughters,
Clementine Ford and Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim. “I'm very humbled
and I don't know that I could be more dedicated to this cause, but I
could never thank you enough, GLAAD, for your education of me.”
The evening also included performances
from recently out Chely Wright and Australian recording artist Sam
Sparro.