Director Roland Emmerich to Be Honored at 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards

German director Roland Emmerich--whose oeuvre includes blockbusters 2012, Day After Tomorrow, Stargate, Independence Day, and The Patriot--will receive GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak Award at this year's Annual GLAAD Media Awards.

Channing Tatum, whom Emmerich directed in White House Down, will present the openly gay director with the honor.

Named for the famed casting director who devoted the last part of his life to bringing awareness to the entertainment industry about the discrimination faced by LGBT and HIV-positive people, GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak Award is presented to a LGBT "media professional" who has made a significant difference in promoting equality.

Previous Stephen F. Kolzak winners include Laverne Cox, Wanda Sykes, Rufus Wainwright, Melissa Etheridge, Bill Condon, Todd Haynes, Alan Ball, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sir Ian McKellen.

Emmerich has just wrapped Stonewall, a drama about the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, that stars Jeremy Irvine, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman, and many more up-and-comers. The film is due out later this year.

The first ceremony of the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards will be held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on March 21, 2015.