Out actress Samira Wiley will be
honored for her LGBT advocacy at the 29th annual GLAAD
Media Awards in New York at the New York Hilton Midtown on Saturday,
May 5.
Wiley will receive the group's Vito
Russo Award, which is presented to “an openly LGBTQ media
professional who has made a significant difference in promoting LGBTQ
acceptance.”
Among her roles, Wiley has played
inmate Poussey Washington in the Netflix dramedy Orange is the New
Black and Moira in Hulu's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale.
She received an Emmy nomination for the latter role. Both
characters were gay.
“Samira Wiley’s moving and
heartfelt portrayals of LGBTQ women have been groundbreaking and
inspirational,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “We
live in a time when those living at multiple marginalized
intersections are most in need of visibility, and Samira brings that
visibility with talent, conviction, and grace.”
Wiley married writer Lauren Morelli in
2017, three years after Morelli came out publicly.
GLAAD previously announced that Britney
Spears and Jim Parsons would be honored at a separate ceremony taking
place in Los Angeles on April 12.
(Related: Wanda
Sykes to host GLAAD Media Awards; Britney Spears, Jim Parsons to be
honored.)