On Wednesday, January 18, GLAAD, with the help of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 stars Salina Estitties and Sasha Colby, announced nominations for the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards.
GLAAD’s dedication to accelerating the acceptance, representation, and recognition of all LGBTQ stories is reflected in the sheer diversity of this year’s nominees. The nominations include media that represents not only a wide range of LGBTQ identities, but which also feature numerous LGBTQ people of color from a variety of cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.
From outstanding films, to television, to children’s and family programming, nearly every nomination category for the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards honors LGBTQ people of color. The list celebrates media that is enacting first of its kind, truly diverse representation. And, in addition to characters who are LGBTQ people of color, many of this year’s nominations star and are directed and written by LGBTQ people of color.
Anything’s Possible (Prime Video), a film about a Black trans girl navigating romance and high school, was Billy Porter’s directorial debut and nominated in the Outstanding Film: Streaming or TV category. The screenplay for Anything’s Possible (which appeared on the 2019 GLAAD List) was written by Ximena García Lecuona, a trans woman, and the film stars Eva Reign, a Black trans woman.
Non-binary, Latiné character Jim from HBO Max original series Our Flag Means Death and Tova from HBO Max original series The Sex Lives of College Girls are both played by non-binary Latiné actor Vico Ortiz. Their interview with Daniela Ganoza of Primer Impacto was also recognized under the Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism category.
The Inspection, an A24 film about Ellis French, a young Black gay man who returns from prison and enlists in the military, was nominated in the Outstanding Film: Limited Release category, and is also written, directed by, and starring LGBTQ people of color and allies of color. The film draws on filmmaker Elegance Bratton’s own lived experience as a Black gay man, and stars Black LGBTQ actor Jeremy Pope as Ellis French and community ally Gabrielle Union as Inez French, Ellis French’s mother.
Fire Island (Hulu), a modern, queer take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, centers a number of LGBTQ characters and stars of Asian American and Asian/Pacific Islander descent, including Bowen Yang (Howie), Joel Kim Booster (Noah), Conrad Ricamora (Will), and Margaret Cho (Erin).
Every nomination in the Outstanding Broadway Production category (which consisted of nominees & Juliet, A Strange Loop, Ain’t No Mo, Kimberly Akimbo, and Take Me Out) featured LGBTQ people of color.
These representations, along with numerous other nominations, highlight the powerful impact of diverse storytelling, especially when those stories are told and made by the diverse communities they aim to center and celebrate. The positive response to films, series, and characters such as those mentioned above is also an indication of how important it is to LGBTQ people of color to see themselves represented on-screen, by people who look like them, and to have those authentic stories written by those from similar backgrounds.
LGBTQ women of color also appeared and were honored in the 34th annual GLAAD Media Award Nominations, an important inclusion and recognition the degree of which cannot be overstated. LGBTQ women of color have identities which sit at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression and discrimination, which should not be overlooked when considering their contributions to media and popular culture.
In addition to LGBTQ women of color characters, LGBTQ actresses and artists of color such as Keke Palmer (Nope, Universal), TS Madison (Bros, Universal), Eva Reign (Anything’s Possible, Prime Video), Auli’i Cravalho (Crush, Hulu), Isabella Ferreira (Crush and Love, Victor, Hulu), Hayley Kiyoko, and Rina Sawayama were also present among the BIPOC nominees.
For a full list of the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards nominations that featured LGBTQ people of color, see below:
Outstanding Film: Wide Release
Bodies Bodies Bodies (A24)
Bros (Universal)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Lightyear (Pixar)
Nope (Universal)
Strange World (Disney)
Outstanding Film: Limited Release
Neptune Frost (Kino Lorber)
The Inspection (A24)
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
Outstanding Film: Streaming or TV
Anything’s Possible (Prime Video)
B-Boy Blues (BET)
Crush (Hulu)
Fire Island (Hulu)
The Fallout (HBO Max)
Wildhood (Hulu)
Outstanding Documentary
Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back (Hulu)
Sirens (Oscilloscope)
Outstanding Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Love, Victor (Hulu)
Never Have I Ever (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO Max)
Sort Of (HBO Max)
Outstanding Drama Series
Good Trouble (Freeform)
Gossip Girl (HBO Max)
Outstanding New TV Series
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
A League of Their Own (Prime Video)
Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)
The Rookie: Feds (ABC)
The Sandman (Netflix)
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Animated
The Owl House (Disney Channel)
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney +)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Live Action
Raven’s Home (Disney Channel)
Zombies 3 (Disney +)
Outstanding Music Artist
Anitta
Demi Lovato
Hayley Kiyoko
Honey Dijon
Rina Sawayama
Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist
Doechii
Dreamer Isioma
Isaac Dunbar
Omar Apollo
Steve Lacy
Outstanding Broadway Production
& Juliet
A Strange Loop
Ain’t No Mo
Kimberly Akimbo
Take Me Out
Outstanding Podcast
In the Deep: Stories that Shape Us (iHeartMedia)
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang (iHeartMedia/Big Money Players)
Life Out Loud with LZ Cranderson (ABC News)
LGBTQ&A (Jeffrey Masters, the Advocate, GLAAD)
PRIDECAST (iHeartPodcasts)
Sibling Rivalry (Studio71)
TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones (TransLash Media)
V Interesting (Lemonada Media)
Outstanding Comic Book
I Hate This Place, by Kyle Starks (Image Comics)
New Mutants, by Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, Charlie Jane Anders (Marvel)
Superman: Son of Kal-El, by Tom Taylor, Nicole Maines (DC Comics)
Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology
DC Pride 2022 (DC Comics)
Heartstopper, Volume 4, written by Alice Oseman (Graphix)
Magical Boy, by The Kao (Graphix)
Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 (Marvel Comics)
Young Men in Love (A Wave Blue World)
Outstanding Video Game
Desta: The Memories Between (ustwo games)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
Need for Speed: Unbound (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
SIGNALIS (rose-engine/Humble Games)
The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K Games)
Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock)
Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode
“David Archuleta” The Jennifer Hudson Show (syndicated)
“Here I Am” Tamron Hall (ABC)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment
“A History That Never Should Have Been: Julius’ Bar” PIX11 Morning News (WPIX-TV [New York])
“Critics Say New School Policies In Florida Ostracize LGBTQ Students” PBS Newshour (PBS)
“HIV in the Deep South” In Real Life (Scripps News)
“Man Who Helped Stop The Club Q Shooter: ‘I’m Just A Normal Guy'” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“The Struggle Of Coming Out In A Religious Family” Good Morning America (ABC)
“The Show Must Go On – Pride Events Targeted” Nightline (ABC)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Long Form
“Families of Trans Kids Are Seeking Sanctuary” VICE News Tonight (VICE)
“NY1 Celebrates Pride: The New Generation” (Spectrum News NY1)
“Our America: Who I’m Meant To Be” (ABC Localish)
“PRIDE | To Be Seen” Soul of a Nation (ABC)
“Pride And Backlash” (NBC News NOW)
“This Is Football” Beyond Limits (CBS)
“Unapologetic: A Conversation on Pride” (MSG Network)
“VIRAL: A World Without AIDS” (ABC News Live)
“Pride of Stage and Screen” (MSNBC)
Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special
“25 News: Celebrating Our Pride” (KXXV-TV [Waco])
“Chris Hayes on the Right-Wing War on LGBTQ Existence” All In with Chris Hayes (MSNBC)
“Don Lemon on the Anti-LGBTQ Congressman Who Attended His Gay Son’s Wedding” CNN Tonight with Don Lemon (CNN)
“GMA Out Loud: A Live Proposal in Times Square” Good Morning America (ABC)
“Joy-Ann Reid Interviews Will Larkins On Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” The Reid Out (MSNBC)
“Out Loud: ABC News Celebrates Pride” (ABC News Live)
“Reggie Aqui Interviews Doctor and Mpox Patient on His Experience” (KGO-TV [San Francisco])
“Robin Roberts Interviews Zander Moricz on His Censored Graduation Speech” Good Morning America (ABC)
“Symone Sanders-Townsend Interviews Colorado Springs Shooting Survivor Michael Anderson” SYMONE (MSNBC)
Outstanding Print Article
“‘King Richard’ Star Aunjanue Ellis Speaks Her Truth About Being Bisexual: ‘I Am Queer – This Is Who I Am'” by Angelique Jackson (Variety)
“Niecy Nash And Wife Jessica Are Sure Betts” by Demetria L. Lucas (Essence)
“Pride And Prejudice And Fire Island” by E. Alex Jung (New York Magazine)
“Activists Face An Avalanche Of Anti-Transgender Bills” by Casey Parks (The Washington Post)
Outstanding Online Journalism Article
“A 25-Year-Old Got In A Taxi Outside An N.Y.C. Gay Bar. He Was Dead An Hour Later” by Jay Valle (NBCNews.com)
“‘I See Myself In Her’: Brittney Griner’s Russia Trial Resonates With Queer Black Women And Nonbinary People” by Orion Rummler (the19th.org)
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The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, which fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance, are currently scheduled to be held in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, March 30, 2023 and in New York at the Hilton Midtown on Saturday, May 13, 2023. If you are interested in attending the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, click here to learn more.
Year-round, GLAAD and GLAAD’s Communities of Color and Media Department is committed to advancing media representation and recognition of LGBTQ people of color. You can keep up with our work and connect with us by following GLAAD on Twitter and Instagram.