The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation awarded Andrew Goldstein '05 with a Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism, News Segment this month for his role in the story "Andrew Goldstein," featured last May on ESPN's "SportsCenter".
GLAAD gave the award to both Goldstein and Greg Garber, the writer and director of the piece, in recognition of their efforts. The two received the award at a ceremony that also honored "Brokeback Mountain" and openly gay director David LaChapelle.
Dedicated to recognizing "mainstream media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community," the GLAAD Media Awards are a large media event, giving awards in more than 25 categories. The awards also honored some well known celebrities, such as Ang Lee, and news outlets, including Newsweek and The Washington Post.
"I won't soon forget getting to stand up in front of so many great people knowing that they respect the things that I have done," Goldstein said. "I hope that we were able to draw attention to the school in a positive manner and make more people aware of how amazing Dartmouth really is."
Known during his time on-campus as Goldie, the openly gay All-American lacrosse goalie had a distinguished athletic career at Dartmouth.
He was Athlete of the Week in The Dartmouth numerous times and was the first collegiate lacrosse goalie to score a goal in more than three decades.
Goldstein was also drafted in the 2005 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft, though he does not currently play professional lacrosse.
He has been hailed as the most accomplished college competitor to be openly gay.
After telling his lacrosse team in the summer of 2003 that he was gay, Goldstein received national media attention and acclaim.
Brian Taylor '06, Goldstein's partner, described the reaction on-campus as positive.
"Surprise. Acceptance. I don't think he talked about it a lot, but he was open about it," Taylor said.
Asked about Goldstein's reasons for participating in the ESPN story, Taylor said it was not for the publicity.
"He did it to show that gays can play sports, do play sports and can excel at sports. He's living proof," Taylor said.
"He went on SportsCenter to let closeted gay kids who play sports across America know that there's someone out there who they can look up to as a role model of sorts."
Taylor was also present at the awards ceremony and described Goldstein's speech as riveting.
"His words were moving and they left wet eyes across the room. Goldie got that crowd on its feet clapping as many times as Ang Lee did, and in a crowd where Brokeback Mountain is considered holy scripture, that's something," Taylor said.
Ultimately, Goldstein views the event with anticipation for the future, saying that he wishes a story like his soon will not be a big deal.
"Hopefully one day we can look back and wonder why this was an interesting story," he said.
