29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees include diverse bisexual+ characters and creators

Freeform

Today, at the Sundance Film Festival, GLAAD announced the nominees for the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which includes groundbreaking portrayals of bisexual+ (bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, etc.) characters and content from bisexual+ creators.

GLAAD’s Where We Are On TV ’17-’18 report found a slight decrease in bisexual+ representation on television over the past year, coming in at 28% LGBTQ characters across broadcast, cable, and streaming originals, despite bi+ people making up the majority of the full LGBTQ community.

Luckily, many of those TV characters, along with those in movies and comic books, as well as musicians and journalists represent the diverse bisexual+ community in genuine, engaging, accurate, and exceptional ways. They are helping to reshape the cultural narrative towards bisexual+ inclusion and acceptance, and the best of the best are nominated for prestigious GLAAD Media Awards this year.

Nominated for Outstanding Film - Wide Release is Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, a drama biopic following Dr. William Marston’s polyamorous relationship with Elizabeth, his wife, and their partner Olive Byrne. These two women eventually inspire Dr. Marston’s iconic superhero, Wonder Woman. In 2017, former GLAAD Ambassador Gianna Collier-Pitts penned a Change.org petition calling on Warner Bros. to recognize Wonder Woman’s bisexuality. The petition has garnered more than 10,500 signatures to date.  

On the small screen, Freeform’s beloved The Bold Type features a young Black woman named Kat (one of the show’s three lead characters) coming to terms with her fluid identity as she explores a new relationship with Adena, a renowned lesbian photographer in this "Outstanding Comedy Series" nominee. Advocate and influencer Blair Imani wrote about the importance of seeing the show’s characters like her for GLAAD’s site. Freeform's drama series Shadowhunters, like The Bold Type, has a devoted following, features a groundbreaking bisexual+ character of color, and is also among this year's nominees. 

One of the long-standing lead characters on FOX’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Rosa, came out as bisexual in December. Rosa is played by out bi actress Stephanie Beatriz, who participated in GLAAD and BiNet’s viral #BiWeek campaign by sending messages of support to bi+ young people. She also spoke with GLAAD about Rosa’s identity for Facebook Live. Also nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series is The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which GLAAD included as one of the top eight TV shows to watch featuring a bi+ character. The musical comedy includes Darryl, who comes out in the original musical number, “Getting Bi.” Only 18 bisexual+ characters on TV last year were men, compared to 75 bisexual+ women characters.

TLC’s I Am Jazz, starring the young pansexual and transgender advocate and author Jazz Jennings is nominated once again for Outstanding Reality Program. In 2015, Jazz told Cosmo, “Being pansexual basically means to me that you are attracted to anyone, no matter their sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, everything.”

The Outstanding Music Artist category celebrates several bisexual+ musicians for their high quality sounds and top-notch representation. Among them is Halsey, who teamed up with Lauren Jauregui for the song Strangers on her nominated album “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.” By two out bisexual women of color, the song was proudly promoted as a “love song for the LGBTQ community.”

Along with representation in entertainment media, prolific journalist and out bisexual Samantha Allen’s Splinter piece, “Why Bisexual Men Are Still Fighting to convince Us They Exist,” is nominated for “Outstanding Digital Journalism Article.” In it, she writes, “bisexual men are like climate change: real but constantly denied.”

Check out the full list of this year’s bisexual+ inclusive nominees:

OUTSTANDING FILM – WIDE RELEASE

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (Annapurna Pictures)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

The Bold Type (Freeform)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)

One Mississippi (Amazon)

Transparent (Amazon)

 

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Shadowhunters (Freeform)

Star (FOX)

This Is Us (NBC)

Wynonna Earp (Syfy)

 

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EPISODE (in a series without a regular LGBTQ character)

"Lady Cha Cha" Easy (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

American Horror Story: Cult (FX)

Godless (Netflix)

 

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM

I Am Jazz (TLC)

 

OUTSTANDING MUSIC ARTIST

Miley Cyrus, Younger Now (RCA Records)

Halsey, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (Astralwerks Records)

Kehlani, SweetSexySavage (TSNMI/Atlantic Records)

Kelela, Take Me Apart (Warp Records)

Kesha, Rainbow (Kemosabe/RCA Records)

St. Vincent, MASSEDUCTION (Loma Vista Recordings)

 

OUTSTANDING COMIC BOOK

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, written by Sarah Vaughn (DC Comics)

The Woods, written by James Tynion IV (BOOM! Studios)

 

OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA

The Young & the Restless (CBS)

 

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE

"Why Bisexual Men Are Still Fighting to Convince Us They Exist" by Samantha Allen (Splinter)

 

OUTSTANDING SCRIPTED TELEVISION SERIES

Las chicas del cable (Netflix)

 

For a complete list of nominees, click here

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD's work to amplify stories from the LGBTQ community and issues that build support for equality and acceptance.

The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in Los Angeles on April 12, 2018 at The Beverly Hilton and in New York on May 5 at the New York Hilton Midtown. Find out how you can buy tickets or host a table here.

To receive the latest updates on the GLAAD Media Awards, follow @glaad on Twitter and use the hashtag #glaadawards.

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