During last night’s presentation of the 2014 GLAAD Awards, Jennifer Lopez was among the honorees. It marks the 25th year that the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards have taken place, and they were held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

In addition to Jennifer Lopez, actress Laverne Cox from Orange Is The New Black was honored, and she is someone who has been very outspoken about her life as a transgender woman, and wanting others to feel open and comfortable with their body.

The award was presented to her by Ellen Page, who was also making her first public appearance since coming out on Valnetine’s Day, and she discussed how one of the best things about it was being able to publicly show support for those people who give her courage.

Jennifer Lopez was presented with the top prize, the Vanguard Award, which celebrates the efforts to increase visibility and understanding of the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender community. She was supported by her boyfriend Casper Smart at the event.

While not a lesbian herself, Lopez was honored for the work that she does publicly, as well as her involvement with the new show The Fosters. The award was presented to her by Rita Moreno, who mentioned that “It’s ironic that Jennifer Lopez has been so successful as a judge on ‘American Idol’ because the woman in real life does not judge.”

In her acceptance speech, she described her Tia Marisa, who was gay, and one of the driving forces for convincing the 44-year-old singer and actress to become a part of the series, and show such care for the gay and lesbian community.

Speaking on her aunt, and her involvement with the show, she said “I also realized the lessons I’ve learned from my family about love, tolerance, and acceptance. We loved her… So I wanted to do this because I thought that she would be so proud of me. I thought about that a lot when I was doing this and as I do it now. I think, ‘She would love this.”

.@JLo: "Love is love. And that's why I have always stood up for marriage equality and family equality and I always will." #glaadawards

— Lucas Grindley (@lucasgrindley) April 13, 2014

Jennifer Lopez was a bit hesitant to work on the show due to its subject matter, but she is glad that she decided to go through with it, thanks to the impact that it is having. The Fosters is a series that focuses on a lesbian couple raising their two twins, and foster children. She serves as an executive producer on the ABC series, which also won an award for outstanding drama series.

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