Heartstopper, The Last of Us, Rustin, Red, White, and Royal Blue, and The Jennifer Hudson Show were among winners at last night’s 35th GLAAD Media Awards in New York, and there was a joint documentary win for three films that centre Black trans lives: Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later, Kokomo City, and The Stroll.
Hosted by Ross Mathews, with live performances from Loren Allred and Scott Hoying, the ceremony at at the New York Hilton Midtown honoured Jennifer Hudson with GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award, introduced by Laverne Cox, and Orville Peck with the Vito Russo Award, presented by his friend Jennifer Lawrence.
“Do y’all know how beautiful you are?” Jennifer Hudson said in her acceptance speech. “Do you know your stories deserve to be told? You guys make me feel safe. Loved my whole life. Welcome. And so therefore, it is my mission to do the same.”
On stage accepting the Vito Russo Award, Orville Peck said, “I’ve never understood why country music has historically been a place that hasn’t felt welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. The kind of country songs I grew up loving were often about heartbreak, heartache, loss, solitude, disappointment, and longing; feelings that can at times be big parts of our experiences growing up queer. That’s the world that drew me in with its vivid stories. That’s the country I always saw, and maybe the reason it was so clear for me that I belonged there. Whether that meant being invited to the table or walking up and grabbing a seat myself.”
Veneno creators and judges on Drag Race España, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo aka Los Javis, paid tribute to late trans activist Cecilia Gentili as they acknowledged the evening’s Spanish language nominees. The evening also featured appearances by Amrit Kapai and Nicholas Koukouchos, Beanie Feldstein, Carla Gugino, Cody Rigsby, Daniella Carter, Don Lemon, Jonathan Bennett, Kate Owens, Kristen Lovell, Mary McDonnell, Octavio Sanders, Rep. Justin Jones, Tayla Parx, Uma Thurman, the casts of Red, White & Royal Blue, and Ru Paul’s Drag Race: All Stars 9.
As Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones introduced the cast of HBO’s fourth season of We’re Here—Priyanka, Sasha Velour, Latrice Royale, and Jaida Essence Hall—he said, “We will never be silenced. If they turn off our microphone, we’ll bring a megaphone. If they try to ban Pride and drag, we’ll show up even bigger and stronger. And show up in rural communities and let them know that we are a force to be reckoned with because we represent a new South and a new nation.”
GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who introduced by Attorney General of New York Letitia James, said in part: “Ten years ago when I started at GLAAD, It was a much different landscape…And now we have the urgent need to protect it all. Our latest poll shows that more than half of American voters are turned off by candidates who are anti-trans. Hating us is becoming a losing proposition. We have to keep telling our stories, raising our voices, pushing back on the rhetoric.”
Some winners were already announced at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 14th, and the following remaining recipients of 18 of this year’s 33 categories were revealed last night in New York:
Our America Who I’m Meant to Be – Episode 3 received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form
Family Karma received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program
Melissa Etheridge: My Window received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Broadway Production
“Jennifer Hudson Surprises HIV Activist with $10,000” The Jennifer Hudson Show received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode
Red, White, and Royal Blue received the GLAAD Media Award for Queer Fan Favorite
Outstanding Podcast: Las Culturistas (iHeart)
Outstanding Film – Streaming Or TV: Rustin (Netflix)
Outstanding Documentary: Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later (MTV Documentary Films), Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures), and The Stroll (HBO | Max Documentary Films)
Outstanding New Series: The Last of Us (HBO)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Live Action: Heartstopper (Netflix)
Outstanding Broadway Production: Melissa Etheridge: My Window, by Melissa Etheridge
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “New York City Gay Bar Deaths Classified as Homicides” (NBC News Now)
Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special: “Indiana Students Put on LGBTQ-Themed Play Themselves After it’s Canceled By the School” Yasmin Vossoughian Reports (MSNBC)
Outstanding Print Article: “As Drag Bans Proliferate, Maren Morris Goes Deep With Drag’s Biggest Stars on Why the Show Must Go On” by Stephen Daw (Billboard)
Outstanding Online Journalism Article: “The AP Interview: Pope Francis Says Homosexuality Not a Crime” by Nicole Winfield (AP.com)
Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia: “7 Remarkable Trans Elders Share Lessons for the Next Generation” (them.us)
Outstanding Blog: Erin Reed – Erin in the Morning
Spanish Language – Outstanding Online Journalism Article: “Personas mayores LGBTQIA+ ‘tienen que regresar a un clóset para poder buscar vivienda‘” por David Cordero Mercado y Joaquín A. Rosado Lebrón (PeriodismoInvestigativo.com & ElNuevoDia.com)
Spanish Language – Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia: “Conoce a la primera diputada negra y trans de Brasil” por Natalia Barrera Francis, Joyce García, David von Blohn, Paula Daibert y Claudia Escobar (Descoloniza – AJ+ Español)
GLAAD previously announced Special Recognition awards for The Dads (Netflix), Love in Gravity, Relighting Candles (Hulu), Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce (AMC Theatres), The Tennessee Holler, Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story, Drag Latina (Revry / LATV), Enamorándonos (UniMás), El sabor de la navidad (ViX), Wendy, perdida pero famosa (ViX)
GLAAD also previously announced that +Life Media received the Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media.
The 35th GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. Since its inception in 1990, the GLAAD Media Awards have grown to be the most visible annual LGBTQ awards show in the world, sending powerful messages of acceptance to audiences globally. The nominees for the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards were published, released, or broadcast between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. For a full list of nominees, click here.
Watch our video interviews from the red carpet at the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York:
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