Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon has taken one of the top honours at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards.

The actress, along with The View co-host Joy Behar, was honoured at the award ceremony in New York.

At the ceremony, Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King presented the Vito Russo Award to Nixon, whose openness about her family has led to a greater understanding of the need for full marriage equality.

The award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.

Accepting the award, Nixon said: “Coming out wasn’t hard in 2004. But if it had been 1994? What would I have done? I’ll never know. Only 10 years’ difference and a whole different universe. Coming out wasn’t difficult for me because of the work of many people in this room and because of the vision, tenacity and sacrifice of people like Vito Russo, who are no longer with us but because of whom there is a room – a room that has all of us in it.”

Also at the event, journalist Meredith Vieira presented the Excellence in Media Award to Behar, who has shown a strong commitment to educating the public about the lives of gay and transgender people on her HLN talk show, The Joy Behar Show, and as co-host of The View.

Source: Splash News