Samira Wiley To Be Honored For Her LGBT Advocacy At GLAAD Media Awards

Out actress Samira Wiley will be honored for her LGBT advocacy at the 29^th 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.)