VIEW MORE PHOTOS | Celebrate GLAAD At 25 @ Mason Murer
With distracting aerialists, dancers, stilt-walkers, drag queens and roaming models, it was almost secondary that so many famous faces turned out Saturday to fete GLAAD’s 25th and honor 30 LGBT Atlantans.
Gay newsies like Don Lemon of CNN and Itay Hod of CBS (third photo) held court at Mason Murer Fine Art for Celebrate GLAAD At 25 bash, while other celebrities including Amanda Bearse, Melissa Carter (bottom photo center), Kat Graham, Jovita Moore (bottom photo left) and Derek J. milled about posing for photos with guests.
But while playing Spot the Celebrity, roving eyes of male guests and celebs alike kept landing on two crews of male models. All that was missing was an oil-wrestling match for dominance between the ROKK Vodka gladiators (top photo with guests) and models from the new “North vs. South” calendar by Richie Arpino (second photo, center).
A wrestling match wouldn’t have been out of place with so many performers, including Atlanta Ballet dancers on the floor and Cirque-style acrobats on the ceiling. There was also enough drag for a party game of Drag: Now and Then. Charlie Brown, Bubba D. Licious and The Lady Chablis were representing alongside newer female impersonators like Phoenix, Angelica D’Paige and Janelle Brooks.
As if there weren’t enough stimuli already, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation also had some business to attend to. Five at a time, some 30 local LGBTs took the stage to have medals of honor placed around their necks.
The diverse list of Atlantans honored at the event were:
Sally Ringo
Don Lemon
Allen Jones
Ben Hadsock
Bubba D. Licious
Charlie Brown
Chris Coleman
Darian Aaron
David Stark
Don George
Duncan Teague
Jeff Cleghorn
Jeff Graham
Jodi Duncan
Justin Ziegler
Linda Ellis
Lynn Barfield
Marcus Jackson
Mariela Romero
Matt Hennie
Mitchel Anderson & Richie Arpino
Pat Hussain
Paul Horning
Paul Plate
Philip Rafshoon
Rodney White
Steven Scarborough
Tyler Calkins & William Duffee-Braun
Photos by Sher Pruitt
