via imdb

"It's about people," Sean Penn said of his latest film, Milk, while picking up Best Actor honors at the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards last Sunday. "It is a story about equal rights for all human beings."

Yet Milk undoubtedly did much to further the gay cause, thus prompting GLAAD to grace the entire cast with a nomination for Outstanding Film today.

The GLAAD Media Awards – now in its 20th year – will be held in NYC on March 28; they recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives. Other nominees include Woody Allen's Academy Award®-nominated film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, HBO's vampire drama True Blood, the episodes "Ghostfacers" from Supernatural and "Slam" from Ghost Whisperer, MSNBC programs Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show, and The Tyra Banks Show.

James Franco, who plays Harvey’s lover in the film, praised Milk during a special cast screening attended by CGG. “One of the things I love is it feels epic but it’s also very intimate,” he said. “I haven’t seen many gay relationships played in movies. The drama is not in How can we be two gay men together?; it’s presented as any other straight relationship.” Commenting on his character’s love scene, Franco added: “I’ve been in love with Sean Penn my whole life and I got to show the world!”

Harvey Milk, who was assassinated by a fellow San Francisco politician in 1978, once said, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let it open a thousand closet doors."

"The 20th anniversary of the GLAAD Media Awards is an excellent opportunity to reflect on how media representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have evolved over the past two decades, clearly helping shape and evolve people's hearts and minds about LGBT people," said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano.

So what do you think -- should Sean win the Oscar? Or are you rooting for comeback kid Mickey Rourke? Comment below! Then check out Sean Penn's SAG acceptance speech: