GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, announced today the nominees for the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
The GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. The 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Gilead, Hyundai, and Ketel One Family-Made Vodka.
For a full list of nominees see here.
GLAAD announced 176 nominees in 30 categories, including the returning category for Outstanding Broadway Production. The Outstanding Kids & Family Programming category expanded to ten nominees as a result of an increase in LGBTQ images across the kids and family television programming and an increase in GLAAD’s work to advocate for inclusion in this genre.
The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, which fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance, will be held in New York at the Hilton Midtown on Thursday, March 19, 2020 and Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, April 16, 2020. Yesterday, GLAAD announced that Taylor Swift will receive the Vanguard Award and Janet Mock will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles. Special honorees for the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York will be announced in coming weeks.
“There are more nominees for the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards than ever before not only because LGBTQ diversity and inclusion has progressed, but because GLAAD’s work to forward LGBTQ visibility has never been more important,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO. “Media stories and storylines that shed light on LGBTQ people of different backgrounds, genders, races, religions, and more, are needed to counter the current politically and culturally divisive moment. The GLAAD Awards this year not only celebrate new LGBTQ stories that educate, entertain, and affect positive cultural change, but remind LGBTQ people and allies that in an election year, our visibility and voices have never been more important.”
Netflix scored the most nominations with a total of 15 nominees, followed by HBO with 8 nominees. ABC, CBS, and NBC each earned 4 nominations. Apple TV+ and Disney+ received their first nominations for Dickinson and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, respectively. Long-running shows including ABC’s The Bachelor in Paradise and MTV’s Are You The One? received their first nominations in the Outstanding Reality Program category. ABC’s Nightline received two nominations in the Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine category and MSNBC received two nominations in the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment category. Univision received 7 nominations in Spanish-Language categories.
As racial and ethnic diversity continues to grow within the media industry, this year’s nominees include powerful and impactful stories about LGBTQ people of color. Several of the nominated television series include series leads that are LGBTQ people of color, including: Euphoria, Killing Eve, The L Word: Generation Q, Pose, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dear White People, One Day at a Time, Superstore, Vida, and Tales of the City.
For the first time since the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, GLAAD will honor LGBTQ-inclusive content on Broadway to celebrate the welcome increase of LGBTQ storytelling in theater. This year’s nominees for Outstanding Broadway Production include Choir Boy, The Inheritance, Jagged Little Pill, Slave Play, and What the Constitution Means to Me.
GLAAD announced a Special Recognition Award for Special, a Netflix short-form coming-of-age comedy series about a gay man with cerebral palsy. Ryan O’Connell created, wrote, and stars in the series, and serves as Executive Producer. Special was nominated for four 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, including an acting nomination for O’Connell. It was recently renewed for a second season.
GLAAD also announced Special Recognition Awards for LGBTQ journalists Karen Ocamb and Mark Segal for their individual work, as well as the critical role that LGBTQ media play in driving LGBTQ acceptance forward.
Karen Ocamb is an award-winning LGBTQ journalist who currently serves as news editor of the Los Angeles Blade, the sibling publication of the iconic Washington Blade. After initially starting her career at CBS News and producing the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Ocamb joined the LGBTQ press in the 1980s after more than 100 friends died from AIDS. She has since become a leading force and champion for LGBTQ media. Ocamb’s career illustrates the power of LGBTQ media to showcase the diversity and resilience of the LGBTQ community. She is known for her smart, fair, and professional writing style as well as her staunch dedication to shining the spotlight on underreported LGBTQ people and issues. She has covered a wide range of issues including marriage equality, the AIDS epidemic, and LGBTQ policies and laws for LGBTQ publications including the Bay Area Reporter, the San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times, The Advocate, Out and she served as news editor for IN Los Angeles and Frontiers magazines.
Mark Segal was a witness at Stonewall, founding member of NY’s Gay Liberation front, founder of the nation’s first LGBTQ Youth organization as well as a marshall of the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day march which created the first Pride March in 1970. In 1973, Segal changed the course of LGBTQ inclusion in news media by famously disrupting live TV news broadcasts including The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and The TODAY Show with Barbara Walters. Segal is an award-winning journalist who has served as President of both the National LGBT Press Association and the National Gay Newspaper Guild. He is the founder and current publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, which was named one of 2019’s best weekly newspapers by the National Newspaper Association. In 2015, he published his memoir And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality, which was named best book by The National LGBTQ Journalist Association. Segal also recently developed the John C. Anderson Apartments, one of the first LGBTQ-friendly affordable living communities for seniors. Now 47 years after being taken out of The TODAY Show in handcuffs, he is a member of the Comcast NBC/Universal Joint Diversity Committee, where he advises the media company on LGBT issues. Last year, his personal papers and artifacts from 50 years of LGBTQ advocacy were added to the collection of The Smithsonian Institute of American History in Washington, D.C.
At the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, GLAAD honored Beyonce and Jay-Z with the Vanguard Award and Sean Hayes with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. During the New York ceremony, Madonna received the Advocate for Change Award and Andy Cohen received the Vito Russo Award. Ross Mathews and Shangela served as hosts for the Los Angeles and New York events, respectively. The 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards New York event was broadcast on Logo.
The 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Gilead, Hyundai, and Ketel One Family-Made Vodka. GLAAD is also grateful to: Platinum Partners Disney ABC Television Group, NBA/WNBA, Omnicom Group; and Silver Partner MLB.
