The speaker's podium in Hollywood's Kodak Theatre will always hold a special place in Charlize Theron's heart, as it was there that she picked up her best actress Oscar in 2004. Indeed South Africa's biggest star would have been forgiven for getting a little sentimental when she returned to the same spot at the weekend to collect another gong.
"This is very surreal for me because two years ago I stood right here and won my Oscar for Monster," confessed the actress when she was honoured at an annual prizegiving staged by the Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The blonde bombshell, who says she and long-time boyfriend Stuart Townsend will tie the knot as soon as homosexual marriages are recognised in the US, was presented with the Vanguard Award for "increasing visibility and understanding" of the gay community.
Charlize used the event to pay tribute to her leading man and reaffirm her commitment to causes which promote equality. "I feel so fortunate that I am in a relationship with a wonderful man," she said. "I find it incredibly unfair that because of our sexual preference, we have the rights that we have, and that, because of someone else's sexual preference, they don't have those same rights."
Among the other winners at this year's GLAAD awards were Felicity Huffman, whose flick Transamerica was named most outstanding movie, and TV sitcom Will And Grace.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
