The nominations for the 2024 Golden Globes were announced on Monday morning by Cedric the Entertainer and Wilmer Valderrama and there are a handful of LGBTQ performers and queer-friendly projects recognized — however it’s more of the latter than openly queer performers playing queer characters.
Five notable LGBTQ nominations are in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama with Colman Domingo receiving a nod for his role in the Bayard Rustin biopic Rustin; Andrew Scott for the queer romantic tragedy All of Us Strangers; Jodie Foster for her performance in Nyad; Bella Ramsey was recognized for her role in The Last of Us for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama; and Matt Bomer received a nom for his role in the sprawling queer romance Fellow Travelers‘s Matt Bomer earned a nom for Best Performance by an Actor, Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. The Showtime series is also up for Best Limited Series. All are performers who openly identify as members of the LGTBQ community and play queer characters in the roles in which they are nominated.
Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie led the pack with nine nominations total. The movie wasn’t a blatantly queer movie but it’s Barbie so it was wildly queer-coded and included performers Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Scott Evans, and Ncuti Gatwa. Billie Eilish and Finneas’s “What Was I Made For?” was also nominated for Best Original Song – Motion Picture.
LGBTQ narratives that were nominated included Maestro, the story of composer Leonard Bernstein which received nominations for Best Motion Picture, Drama as well as acting nominations for Bradley Cooper and Carrie Mulligan.
Other noteworthy nominations include strong contender Lily Gladstone, who received a nom for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for her stirring performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks received nominations for the Blitz Bazawule‘s movie musical The Color Purple but the queer classic is notably absent from Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
On the TV side, Ayo Edebiri, Christina Ricci, and Rachel Weisz received acting noms for their roles in The Bear, Yellowjackets, and Dead Ringers respectively.
In the new category of Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy or Television, Wanda Sykes received a nomination for her special Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer.
The Golden Globes also introduced the new category of Cinematic and Box Office Achievement which included noms for Barbie and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour but a glaring absence in this category was Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé which opened at $21 million the weekend after Thanksgiving which is a historically a quiet box office weekend. The film ruled the box office the weekend of December 1 and was the first time a film has opened with more than $20 million this specific weekend since 2003 with Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai.
The 81st Golden Globes will be televised by CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on January 7, 2024. Read the full list of Golden Globes nominations here.