Cher stunned her transgender son Chaz Bono by presenting him with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 23rd annual Glaad Media Awards.
The pop superstar joined Bono's stepmother Mary Bono MACk at the prizegiving in Los Angeles on Sunday (22Apr12) and honoured the gay rights activist, stating, "I'm here because Chaz has the most courage of almost anyone I know. The other day I was having a big meltdown (like you do) and Chaz said, 'Are you going to come to the (event),' and I went, 'Chaz, you know, I'm not doing well right now'.
"He texted me and said, 'I turned into a very understanding, smart man and you can call on me.' And it made me feel so good, like I could lean on someone. It touched my heart."
Addressing Bono directly, Cher added, "You are the most courageous person I know and you really deserve this award, so come up and get this award!"
The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson was also honoured - actor Benicio Del Toro handed him the Glaad Vanguard Award. Del Toro directed the young star in the short film 7 Days in Havana.
Accepting his award, Hutcherson thanked his friends from the Straight But Not Narrow campaign, with which Hutcherson is actively involved. He stated, "I want to thank my best friends Avan Jogia, Andre Pochon and Heather Wilk for starting Straight But Not Narrow. It’s an amazing organization.
"We wanted to create a place where straight people felt safe coming out and saying, 'It’s OK to be gay.' And I didn’t know one, so we decided we were going to make one and we have. It’s gaining momentum and it means the world to me.
"I want to thank Glaad and everybody tonight who shared their story with us, and really showed us that the work that we’re doing makes a difference... I’ll make hopefully a million more movies but this is what I want to do with my life, just changing the world and hopefully changing what people think."
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation also handed out prizes to TV shows Modern Family (Outstanding Comedy Series), Hot in Cleveland and Drop Dead Diva (Outstanding Individual Episode) and Bono's reality TV show Becoming Chaz (Outstanding Documentary), while Ewan MCGregor movie Beginners was named Outstanding Film.
The Glaad Media Awards recognise and honour media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.