Announcing the 2008 AfterElton.com Visibility Awards

If anyone ever had any doubts about the depth of Brad Pitt’s support for the GLBT community, Pitt put them to rest this year. Back in 2006, Pitt famously announced he would not be marrying his partner Angelina Jolie until GLBT people could also get married, then declared he’d love to play a gay role. This year Pitt was a forceful voice against Proposition 8, speaking out and contributing $100,000 to the cause. No doubt it’s Brad’s compassion for gay people as well as his stunning good looks that have twice landed him in our annual Hot 100 list.

Photo credit: Vera Anderson/WireImage

The other nominees were almost as interesting: long-time ally (and now Ugly Betty matriarch) Judith Light; San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who started the ball rolling on same-sex marriage in California; Keith Olbermann, who gave an impassioned pro-gay “special comment” in the wake of Proposition 8’s passing; and, of course, Kathy Griffin. With friends like these … well, we’re certain to have full equality much sooner than we would have otherwise.

Photo credit: Bruce Gifford/FilmMagic

Who doesn’t love Ellen? Not AfterElton.com readers, who voted her Favorite Lesbian by large numbers (more than double the votes of Rachel Maddow, her closest competition). What is it about Ellen that makes her so damn likeable? A friendly, open sense of humor that doesn’t rely on demeaning anyone else, for one thing.  But this year, Ellen, who has admitted that she was stung by the nasty backlash that resulted from her 1997 coming out, took another brave stand in the face of Proposition 8, publicly marrying her partner Portia de Rossi and then forcefully speaking out against the initiative. AfterElton.com’s Favorite Lesbian of the year? Truthfully, it’s hard to think of anyone, male or female, gay or straight, who’s been more important in the struggle for same-sex equality — and not just this year, but ever.