Across news and entertainment categories, 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees reflect the rich diversity of the LGBTQ community, including LGBTQ people of color.
In entertainment categories, Naz & Maalik tells the story of two black Muslim teenage boys in a relationship in Brooklyn. Oxygen's Strut features Latinx and African American trans models. The Trans List (HBO) spotlights South Asian, Native American, Latinx, and black trans voices. Logo documentary Out of Iraq centers on a love story between two Iraqi gay men and their journey to reunite across borders. Among journalism nominees, "An LGBT Hunger Crisis" by Roni Caryn Rabin (The New York Times) sheds light on food insecurity among LGBTQ people, and its disproportionate impact on black and Latinx LGBTQ people. Multi-racial characters and people appeared in The Fosters (Freeform); "Life as Matt" E:60 (ESPN); "Switching Teams" 60 Minutes (CBS).
Asian-Pacific American LGBTQ characters were present in the films Star Trek Beyond, which shows Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) with his male partner and their child, and Spa Night, which centers on the story of a young Korean-American son of immigrants who struggles to accept his sexual orientation. Freeform's Shadowhunters features bisexual warlock Magnus Bane (Harry Shum Jr.) as one of its central characters. Asian-Pacific American LGBTQ regular and recurring characters also appeared in ABC's The Real O'Neals and How to Get Away with Murder (ABC), and Netflix's The OA.
Black LGBTQ characters appeared in television series like Hap and Leonard (SundanceTV), which features the co-titular character Leonard (Michael Kenneth Williams) , a gay black Vietnam War veteran in 1980s east Texas; and Starz's Survivor's Remorse, which includes M-Chuck (Erica Ash), the lesbian sister of a young professional basketball player in Atlanta. CBS daily drama The Bold and The Beautiful features Maya (played by Karla Mosley), a black transgender female character. A24's Academy Award-nominated film Moonlight is about a young Miami queer black man's journey to adulthood. Oxygen's The Prancing Elites Project features an all-black dance group composed of gay men and one transgender woman. Centric documentary The Same Difference sheds light on masculine lesbian black women. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah interviewed Angelica Ross, a black transgender entrepreneur and actress. "No Access: Young, Black & Positive" (Tonic.Vice.com) highlighted young gay black men living with HIV in Jackson, Miss. Frank Ocean was nominated for Outstanding Music for his album Blonde.
On television, Latinx LGBTQ characters appeared in Grey's Anatomy (ABC), Supergirl (The CW) and HBO's Looking: The Movie. Investigation Discovery's documentary Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four centers on the story of four Latina lesbians in San Antonio who were wrongfully convicted of sexual assault. Featuring the stories of Latinx LGBTQ survivors of the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub are The Ellen DeGeneres Show's "Tony Marrero, Orlando Shooting Survivor"; "Worthy of Survival" by Kathleen McGrory (Tampa Bay Times); and "After the Orlando Shooting, the Changed Lives of Gay Latinos" by Daniel Wenger (NewYorker.com); GLAAD also nominates an entire slate of Spanish-language media, which may be found here.
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 1, 2017 at The Beverly Hilton and in New York on May 6 at the New York Hilton Midtown. Find out how you can buy tickets or host a table here.
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