Honorees

Niecy Nash-Betts

Visibility Award

Niecy Nash-Betts is a multi-talented Emmy®, Critics Choice, and NAACP Award-winning and Golden Globe®-nominated actress and producer who continues to captivate audiences with her shining talent and infectious energy both in front of and behind the camera. In 2022, Nash-Betts and her “hersband,” singer/songwriter Jessica Betts, made history as the first same-sex couple to appear on the cover of Essence magazine. The cover story received a nomination for a 2023 GLAAD Media Award in the category of “Outstanding Print Article.” 

Nash-Betts recently returned as host of FOX’s game show DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS which premiered May 2023.

Nash-Betts released her first book It’s Hard to Fight Naked in 2014, in which she offers a new perspective on dating and relationships.

She resides in LA, where she is devoted to church and participating at charitable functions in support of causes that are close to her heart, including the prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, school violence and domestic abuse, among others. In July 2018, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored Nash-Betts with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to celebrate her career. She continues to develop various projects through her production company, Chocolate Chick, Inc.

Bruce Cohen

The Murray/Reese Family Award

Bruce Cohen is an Oscar and Tony-winning, Emmy-nominated producer of film (American Beauty, Big Fish, Milk, Silver Linings Playbook), television (Pushing Daises), theater (Big Fish, The Inheritance, Slave Play) and live events (The 83rd Annual Academy Awards, Broadway at the White House). He is currently serving, along with Lady Gaga, as co-chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. His next feature film, which will be in theaters this fall from Netflix, is RUSTIN, directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin. Bruce and Tonia Davis are producing and Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producing.

Cohen is a devoted activist for LGBTQ+ and human rights issues. He served as president of the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind the successful Supreme Court case to have California’s Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional. He also produces Family Equality’s Night at the Pier and the Democratic National Committee’s LGBTQ Gala, along with live and virtual events for a wide variety of causes and organizations. Bruce is a graduate of Yale University and started his film career as the DGA Trainee on Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. He lives in New York City with his husband and daughter.

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