GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, yesterday announced the nominees for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
Current RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Salina EsTitties and Sasha Colby announced nominees in select GLAAD Media Awards categories in a ‘GLAAD Drag Story Time’ video that just debuted on GLAAD’s YouTube.
Watch the announcement here.
In the video, Sasha Colby commented on recent attacks on drag performers across the country: “Performers like us are being threatened with anti-LGBTQ bills, nasty protests, and even violence. You know what’s scary? People with guns, not queens with books!” In 2022, GLAAD found over 140 incidents of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting drag events, including events run by the organization Drag Story Hour.
The GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. Since 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 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are presented by Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Ketel One Family Made Vodka.
For a full list of nominees, visit glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees.
The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released, or broadcast between January 1 and December 31, 2022. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, which fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance, will be held in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, March 30, 2023 and in New York City at the Hilton Midtown on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
“With violence, harmful legislation, false rhetoric and other attacks on the LGBTQ community continuing to escalate, it’s more crucial than ever that our community remains visible and included in the stories that the world sees in film, television, music, journalism, and other forms of media,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “This year we have more nominees than ever before to represent immensely impactful projects that entertain, educate, and grow acceptance of LGBTQ people. From new stories that debunk lies about transgender youth to kids and family programming which allows all families to be represented, this year’s nominated media images are beloved by audiences and are creating real change.”
This year, GLAAD announced 295 nominees across 33 categories including two new categories: Outstanding Podcast and Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special. For the first time ever, the Outstanding Reality Program category was also split to nominate both reality competition series and non-competition series independently. The Outstanding Kids & Family Programming category was also split to nominate animated and live action programs independently. This year also includes ten nominees in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category for the first time.
Each year, GLAAD presents non-competitive Special Recognition Awards to media projects that do not fit into one of the existing GLAAD Media Awards categories. For the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, GLAAD is presenting Special Recognition honors to five media projects and individuals that spotlighted diverse segments of the LGBTQ community in innovative ways. The five individuals and projects include: Alejandra Caraballo, Drag Story Hour, Jerrod Carmichael’s “Rothaniel” (HBO), “The Lesbian Bar Project,” #Letters4TransKids and “En Sus Palabras” [serie] (TelevisaUnivision).
GLAAD’s Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media honors a pioneering individual, group, or community media outlet that has made a significant contribution to the development of LGBTQ media. The award is named after Barbara Gittings in recognition of her groundbreaking work as editor of The Ladder, and for her appearances as an out lesbian on national news media throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
This year, The Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media will be presented to The Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade. Washington Blade is the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, founded in 1969 just after the Stonewall Rebellion and is the only queer outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room and the only such outlet that is a member of the presidential pool rotation and the White House Correspondents Association.
In 2017, Troy Masters partnered with Washington Blade’s owners and launched the Los Angeles Blade, which prides itself on being Southern California’s LGBTQ news source, covering news, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment, including some national and international coverage from the D.C. Blade’s award-winning reporting team. The Los Angeles Blade’s founding editor, 2019 GLAAD honoree Karen Ocamb, also earned Los Angeles Press Club’s Journalist of the Year in 2021. Los Angeles Blade is edited by veteran political journalist Brody Levesque. Together, representing 50 years, the Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade’s relentless reporting reflects best-in-class journalism, reminding us all that LGBTQ issues and people have a stake in every news story and headline.
Last year, the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles were hosted by Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela and were streamed on Hulu.Cody Rigsby and Peppermint hosted the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. Both ceremonies featured appearances and performances by Dove Cameron, Kacey Musgraves, Ben Platt, Cody Rigsby, Ariana DeBose, Laverne Cox, Karine Jean-Pierre, Wilson Cruz, Cynthia Nixon, Gigi Gorgeous, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judith Light, Anthony Rapp, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Christina Ricci, Cynthia Erivo, Shangela, JoJo Siwa and many more.
To purchase tickets for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, please visit: www.glaad.org/mediaawards/tickets.
