For nearly a decade now, Autostraddle has celebrated the best LGBTQ+ series on television and the people who bring them to life. Increasingly, there’s more overlap between the shows nominated for our own awards and the Straight Emmys, as we call them internally. That taken on its own is evidence of some progress: Shows that feature queer and trans characters are increasingly part of mainstream culture. But the annual Autostraddle TV Awards exist — and will continue to exist — because we’ve never been interested in mainstream culture telling us what makes good art.
Yes, it’s true queer representation is far from fringe these days, but there’s still a lot left to be desired in terms of television centering the stories of lesbian, queer female and trans characters. Every year, it has gotten increasingly more difficult to actually fill the ballots for every category, which is the opposite of how we assumed things would trend in the early days of these awards. As we see declines in the number of queer and trans characters on television and less focus on telling authentic, deep, and complex queer stories, the Autostraddle TV Awards remain a reminder of the strengths and importance of these characters and stories. Below, you can see our winners and read our words about why the work matters so deeply to us.
Outstanding Drama Series: The Pitt (HBO Max)
Nominees: The Hunting Wives (Netflix), The Testaments (Hulu), Ponies (Peacock), Wayward (Netflix), Ginny & Georgia (Netflix)
Like most fans of The Pitt, it was hard not to find Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch endearing in the show’s first season. Despite still shouldering the trauma of leading the emergency department through COVID — and losing a mentor in the process — Robby comes to work, eschewing bureaucracy and operating with profound empathy for his patients and their families. But early in season 2, Robby starts to collapse beneath the emotional weight…and, until he can escape from all the pressure, Robby takes his frustration out on the women around him. Suddenly, the person that initially made The Pitt worth watching makes the show’s second season a slog.
What salvages The Pitt‘s second season, though, are the women. Drs. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) and Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) are the targets of Robby’s misplaced anger in Season 2. Mohan folds beneath Robby’s hypocritical critique while Al-Hashimi stands toe-to-toe with him and dares to consider herself his equal.
Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) returns to the emergency department and guides the new nurse, Emma Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard), through a rollercoaster of a first day. The care that the nurses show the homeless man, the sexual assault victim, and the late frequent flier are all beautifully poignant. Equally as heartbreaking is Dr. Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif) helping her patient, Roxie, and her family navigate end of life care. A malpractice lawsuit deposition looms over Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) for a bulk of the season but the real challenge Mel faces is imagining a life that doesn’t include being the caretaker of her increasingly independent, autistic sister. Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones) looked unbothered in the show’s first season but the vulnerability beneath the bravado peaks out in the second, particularly as it relates to her friendship with Whitaker and her situationship with Yolanda Garcia (Alexandra Metz).
The women of The Pitt take what could have been a lackluster season and recapture the magic of the first season. Maybe we don’t need Robby afterall. – Natalie
Outstanding Comedy Series: Hacks (HBO Max)
Nominees: Deadloch (Prime Video), I Love L.A. (HBO Max), Company Retreat (Prime Video), Abbott Elementary (ABC), Such Brave Girls (Hulu)
It sounds corny or at the very least hyperbolic, but I will be writing about television program Hacks for the rest of my life in one way or another. The series might be over, but its stories of creative collaboration, finding one’s voice as an artist, and fighting for one’s art amid systemic obstacles will resonate forever.
The fifth and final season serves as a full circle moment in many literal ways, references to the series’ first season threaded throughout. But what sets Hacks apart from other comedies that employ the art of the callback in their final chapters is just how organic, earned, and surprising those callbacks are. The final season is a love letter to the show’s fans without amounting to, well, hacky fan service. Hacks has always excelled at crafting arcs that keep on going until they become closed loops, Ava and Deborah often caught in a vicious cycle that would feel repetitive if not for such strong writing and performances. They’re one of the greatest duos in television history, as compelling to watch when they’re dysfunctional as they are when in lockstep with each other.
And let’s be real: “Montecito” was one of the best lesbian-centric episodes of television of the last five years. – KKU
Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: Pluribus (Apple TV)
Nominees: Gen V (Prime Video), School Spirits (Paramount+), Murderbot (Apple TV), Ironheart (Disney+), From (MGM+)
The end of the world on Pluribus — devastating, terrifying, strange, and absurdly humorous — lends itself to so many different interpretations. Is it a series about AI and big tech, capitalism and corporate power, individualism vs. the collective, fascism, pandemics, climate disaster? I choose to believe it’s about all of these things and more, the kind of sci-fi show that manages to wrestle with big and complicated thematic questions without settling for simple answers, all while grounding those questions in more zoomed-in interpersonal storytelling.
In just one (extremely impressive and consistent) season so far, Pluribus has established Carol Sturka as one of the greatest sci-fi protagonists on television, captivating not despite her flaws but because of them. The fact that she’s a queer woman adds another layer to the storytelling and feels far from incidental; her queerness matters to the story without wholly defining her. It’s the kind of “representation” that excites me the most.
Outstanding Animated Series: Women Wearing Shoulder Pads (HBO Max)
Nominees: Hazbin Hotel (Prime Video), The Mighty Nein (Prime Video), Long Story Short (Netflix), Mating Season (Netflix), Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (Netflix)
It must be said: This was an outstanding year in general for queer animated series. Just look at that lineup of nominees! Stacked! Of all the boundary-pushing animated programs this year though, one easily emerges as the most boundary-pushing of them all: Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, the Spanish-language stop motion series set in a speculative version of Ecuador where one woman hopes to change the public image of guinea pigs, bred for meat in the universe of the show, and winds up entangled with a woman who runs an empire of guinea pig chop shops.
Lesbian affairs, high-stakes drama, and strange shenanigans ensue. Queer women aren’t side characters or mere facets of an ensemble in this series; they’re the entire focus. Also, more stop motion lesbian sex scenes, please! – KKU
Outstanding Reality TV Series: The Traitors (Peacock)
Nominees: Couples Therapy (Showtime), Top Chef (Bravo), The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix), Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo), Southern Hospitality (Bravo)
Iterations of The Traitors exist all across the globe and I’ve consumed an embarrassing number of them. It’s a little harder to follow when you don’t speak the language or know the cast of characters outside the castle gates but, ultimately, the game is the same, no matter what country it’s in. The dynamics — including occasional bursts of transphobia, homophobia, racism, and misogyny — are omnipresent and make it both difficult to watch and hard to look away from. The Traitors, after all, is just a social psychology experiment playing out on our screens.
But with every edition of Traitors, I find myself hoping that this disparate group of faithfuls will understand power dynamics and collective action and topple the traitors. I hope that they’re cognizant enough of how unconscious bias has played a role in past exits and adjust their strategies accordingly. The hope exists, in part, because, as with any experiment, you hope those results will extrapolate to a wider audience.
Season 4 of The Traitors squashed that hope almost immediately. Black contestants — namely Ron Funches and Tiffany Mitchell — being held to impossible standards to which no one else was subjected. None of the other contestants seemed cognizant of the way unconscious bias seeped into the game. Meanwhile, the straight, affable white boy in his overalls (apparently, he did not own shirts) navigated the game with ease; his aww shucks persona to carry him to victory. It was so frustrating…and yet I watched until the very end (Kristen Kish being part of the show for 10 episodes undoubtedly helped). – Natalie
Outstanding Daytime Series: Beyond the Gates (CBS)
Nominees: Coronation Street (ITV1 / ITVX), Emmerdale (ITV1 / ITVX), Shortland Street (TVNZ 2)
Soaps have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. During the summers spent on my grandparents’ farm, we were expected to spend most of the day outside, burning off our youthful energy, but if we promised to be quiet, my grandma would let us come inside and sit at her feet as she watcher “her stories.” I fell in love with the soap genre during those summers but, when it came to representation, the genre never really loved me back. Characters of colors were denied the front-burner storylines they deserved and, in the rare instance that there was a queer character, shows seemed intent on keeping those characters alone and celibate. Things have changed over the years but no one’s pushed the boundaries of representation quite like Beyond the Gates.
BTG is the first daytime show since 1989’s Generations to put a black family front and center and its cast of characters reflects the full tapestry of the black experience, including black and queer characters. Beyond the Gates gives the spotlight to its queer characters — Martin Richardson and his husband, Smitty, and Chelsea Hamilton — and fully gifts them with over-the-top melodrama that straight soap characters have been able to showcase for years. Other soaps are very good at telling queer love stories but struggle to tell stories with queer characters beyond that; not Beyond the Gates. Chelsea and her fiancée, Madison, are given stories that revolve around their careers and their families, that are all anchored by the love that they share.
Do I wish that Chelsea and Madison got more screen time? Yes. Do I think that the show has gotten less equitable over time in the screen time it gives to straight vs. queer romantic scenes? Also, yes. That said, I remain tuned in to Beyond the Gates because it truly is changing the face of the genre that I grew up watching. – Natalie
Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series: Zendaya as Rue Bennett, Euphoria
Nominees: Brittany Snow as Sophie O’Neil, The Hunting Wives // Malin Åkerman as // Margo Banks, The Hunting Wives // Claire Danes as Aggie, The Beast In Me // Mae Martin as Alex Dempsey, Wayward // Haley Lu Richardson as Twila Hasbeck, Ponies
There are many criticisms to lob at Euphoria generally, and its final season specifically and its final episode most directly, but none of those things are about Zendaya’s performance as Rue Bennett. Euphoria has been widely credited with marking Zendaya’s arrival as a serious actor, taking her a conscious step away from Disney and Spiderman and towards something more bombastic and gritty and firmly of the zeitgeist. She immediately stunned as Rue, a grieving teenage lesbian drug addict in love with her manic pixie trans girl best friend, winning an immediate (straight) Emmy for Euphoria’s first season. Like the journey of addiction in real life, Rue’s narrative didn’t have a trajectory so much as a repetitious cycle, just a series of increasingly perilous self-destructive loops. It’s not a recipe for a successful character arc in anybody’s hands but Zendaya’s. It’s her talent that made it work, and most extraordinarily of all, so often made it funny. – Riese
Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series: Isa Briones as Trinity Santos, The Pitt
Nominees: Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn, Euphoria // Alexandra Metz as Yolanda Garcia, The Pitt // Mattea Conforti as Becka, The Testaments // Ariana DeBose as Lucy Farinelli-Watson, Scarpetta // Gemma Chua-Tran as Sasha, Heartbreak High // Aisha Hinds as Hen Wilson, 9-1-1 // Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Grey’s Anatomy
It has been a minute since I have done such a sharp 180 on a character like I did with Trinity Santos. At the start of season one, I fell for her mask. I thought she really was egotistical, that she had a god complex, and that I wasn’t going to like her character. Even as she started her flirtationship with Garcia, I was convinced this was going to be the rare occurrence where I actually DON’T like the main queer character on a show. But as the season went on, I saw that the macho act was a front, and I started to see the heart of her. Season two really brought out the nuances of Santos, and even though (due to Isa Briones’ real-life injury) she ended up spending most of the season in a chair doing charts, we still got to see so many more layers of Santos. Isa Briones seamlessly switches from showing off Santos’ false bravado to her vulnerability, from the overprotective way she talks to and about Whitaker to the insecure way she approaches her relationship with Garcia, we’re starting to get to the heart of her and I’m loving what we’re seeing. Bonus points for the lullaby and karaoke scenes! – Valerie
Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series: Hannah Einbinder as Ava, Hacks
Nominees: Kat Sadler as Josie, Such Brave Girls // Kate Box as Dulcie Collins, Deadloch // Madeleine Sami as Eddie Redcliffe, Deadloch // Lili Reinhart as Harper, Hal & Harper
Hannah Einbinder has been nominated in this category four times, and in her last year eligible for this character, she finally clinched it! And well deserved, because Ava is an incredible character — whipsmart, chaotic, hilarious, passionate — but also because Hannah did extra incredible work with her in the final season of Hacks. Without getting into spoilers, Ava really ran the gamut of emotions in this season. We got to see her being goofy, devastated, desperate, proud, loving, in control. We got to see her lowest lows and highest highs, and Hannah Einbinder nailed every beat. I still laugh every time I think about her delivery of “Siri, Google how to sink a super yacht. NO AI!”, and I still get emotional when I think about the last two episodes of the show. Hannah Einbinder spent five seasons endearing us to Ava, and making us fall in love with Ava and Deborah’s relationship, and I’m so glad she got the win in the end — both on the show, and in the Autostraddle TV awards.
Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series: Stephanie Beatriz as Didi, Man on the Inside
Nominees: Rachel Kaly as Claire Coleman, Company Retreat // Cherry Jones as Kelly Killpatrick, Hacks // Leslie Bibb as Monica, Hacks // Gia Kim as Yuri, XO, Kitty // Paula Pell as Dana Richards, The Burbs
On paper, I have no business liking this show as much as I do. In fact, if anyone besides Mike Schur made the show, I probably wouldn’t even have given episode one a try. But I’ve loved every Mike Schur show I’ve watched, so I wasn’t going to let this one pass me by. I was rewarded by a show that is not only delightful and a good time, but also has bonus Stephanie Beatriz. That woman is a chameleon, I swear, and in this she is a confident (if overworked) manager of a retirement home who sometimes seems like the only sane one in the room. She sadly wasn’t in as many episodes in season two as she was in season one, but she DOES get to get her flirt on with Julie, the private investigator, and as we all know, Stephanie Beatriz is VERY good at that. – Valerie
Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, Pluribus
Nominees: Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau, Gen V // Anna Sawai as Cate Randa, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
I cannot imagine any other actor in the role of Carol Sturka. Rhea Seehorn imbues the complicated and endlessly enthralling protagonist of Pluribus with so many layers of emotion. There’s a raw, intense humanity to Carol, and the character requires an actor who is capable of comedy, drama, tragedy, and surreality all at once. Seehorn rises to the task easily. So often, she has to act against no one on the show, portraying the horrors of isolation and deep grief (both personal and existential) in ways that haunt. – KKU
Outstanding Supporting Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: Tig Notaro as Jett Reno, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Nominees: London Thor as Jordan Li, Gen V // Maya Hawke as Robin, Stranger Things // Ci Hang Ma as Quinn, School Spirits // Sara Yarkin as Rhonda Rosen, School Spirits // Shea Couleé as Slug, Ironheart
There’s much to enjoy about Starfleet Academy, which is basically a mashup of your standard teen/young adult drama with a great Star Trek expansion series, and Tig Notaro reprising her Discovery role as Jett Reno is chief among them. Jett’s relationship with Lura Thok is a highlight and further evidence the new generation of Star Trek shows are interested in queer characters who actually get queer storylines, too. More lesbians in space! – KKU
Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character: Max, Ginny & Georgia
Nominees: Rhonda, School Spirits // Yuri, XO Kitty // Leila, Wayward // Quinni, Heartbreak High // Sasha, Heartbreak High
Max is one of my favorite queer teen characters I’ve seen in a long time. Though she’s bolder than I’ve ever been, I see parts of my younger self in her: in her people-pleasing tendencies, in her fast-talking efforts to be heard, in her overly joyful mask she wears to cover how deeply sad she really is, and in the way she looks after everyone else so well that no one is looking after her. Max is also one of those rare young characters whose queerness isn’t the crux of her storyline; she came out long before we “met” her at the start of the show and openly laments to her friend about there not being enough queer people in their school for her to date. (Though she luckily does find a few over the course of the show.) Her queerness is inherent to her character, but her coming out was never an issue. This season, she had to balance a girlfriend who isn’t quite right for her and an ex who is looking more appealing as time goes on, plus the devastation of finding out one of her friends realized she was queer and came out to everyone else before her. She is complicated and fun to watch and Sara Waisglass will make you laugh and break your heart over the course of a single scene. I’m glad Max exists as neurodivergent queer representation, and even though Santana Lopez the character would probably be exhausted by her, I know deep down she’d be glad to add Max to the ranks of the winners of the Santana Lopez Legacy Award. – Valerie
Most Groundbreaking Representation: Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Nominees: Deadloch (Prime Video) // Hacks (HBO Max) // Wayward (Netflix)
Another last-chance win in the books; this is the second time Heartbreak High has been nominated, and after a stunning final season, it is time for the show to take home the trophy. Heartbreak High is not just a show with queer characters, though of course it does have those by the armful. But it’s truly a queer show, deep in its bones. And it goes deeper than just checking off a few LGBTQ+ boxes. It has autistic lesbian representation, asexual representation, non-binary characters, conversations about open relationships and hell even a sapphic fairy smut storyline. It laughs in the face of gender roles and expectations and shows all the characters learning about themselves and each other and growing and changing throughout the seasons. I am not Gen Z or Gen Alpha, but it felt more akin to how I see those generations online: a little more open, a little more free. Not without struggles, of course, but with more open minds. It was really great to watch. – Valerie
Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Comedy: Hannah Einbinder in Hacks
Nominees: Poppy Liu in Hacks // Megan Stalter in Hacks // Robby Hoffman in Hacks // Cherry Jones in Hacks // Regan Aliyah in XO Kitty // Sherry Cola in Shrinking
That’s right, Hannah Einbinder picks up two Autostraddle TV Awards wins this year, and it’s much deserved, not only based solely on the merits of her work in the final season of Hacks but also because she’s the kind of performer who embodies exactly why we created these “Gay Emmys” in the first place.
Watching Einbinder grow in her acting abilities over the course of Hacks has been a delight. Each season, we watched as she got stronger and stronger. She was always funny, but her performance became deeper and more varied as the series progressed, and pretty soon, she was fully on equal footing with her far more experienced co-star Jean Smart. It’s not very often that we get to actually watch young, previously untested actors evolve over the course of a series. Einbinder’s own arc is as fun to watch as Ava’s. And the fact that she refuses to be silenced as an anti-Zionist Jewish actor-activist only further solidifies her as the exact kind of person we like to champion in these awards. I’m obviously writing this before the Straight Emmys have aired, and I feel pretty confident that our only chances at hearing a “Free Palestine” during the broadcast are if she actually wins her category.
Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Drama: Supriya Ganesh in The Pitt
Nominees: Rowan Blanchard in The Testaments // Tessa Thompson in His & Hers // Ayo Edebiri in The Bear // Ayesha Harris in The Pitt // Ayesha Madon in Heartbreak High
While I’m thrilled to briefly talk about Supriya Ganesh’s incredible portrayal of Dr. Samira Mohan in season 2 of The Pitt, I’m also bummed that we won’t get more of her at the Pittsburgh-themed hospital in Hawaii next season. Despite their rushed exit, Supriya delivered a lot of complex emotional moments this season as Dr. Mohan navigated a strained relationship with her mother along with the difficult choice of her next career move. Samira’s empathy and patient advocacy have always been a hallmark of her bedside manner — so much so that she earned the nickname “slo-mo” for taking a long time with her patients. But the thing is, the time Samira takes is spent better understanding the bigger picture of what’s going on with her patients, like when she correctly diagnosed a beauty influencer with mercury poisoning instead of a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia. As the season went on, Mohan’s stress became too much and she had a panic attack with symptoms that mimicked a cardiac event. Supriya’s performance of fear and panic as well as her reaction to Dr. Robby berating Mohan about it broke my heart. I’m always curious about the timing of actor departures and the impact on story, because it makes me wonder whether Dr. Mohan’s arc would have ended differently. Her apology about letting personal bleed into professional could have been accompanied by Robby’s own apology for reaming her out the way he did. Outside of The Pitt, Supriya has been very open about her gender journey and the restrictions of white-centered femininity. They demand to be seen as they are, something I think Samira would be proud of. I wanted more for Dr. Mohan, but you better believe I’ll be following Supriya to whatever they do next. – Nic
Outstanding LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show: Krys Marshall in Paradise
Nominees: Kiersey Clemons in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters // Sabrina Wu in Murderbot // Chyler Leigh in The Way Home // Ci Hang Ma in School Spirits // Sara Yarkin in School Spirits
Paradise is my favorite kind of sci-fi/fantasy show: the kind that starts out as one thing, but once you let it cook, it reveals itself to be something completely different. If you ask me, Krys Marshall’s portrayal of Secret Service Agent Nicole Robinson gave us that very same shift from season 1 to season 2. When we meet her in season 1, she’s a no-nonsense agent fully dedicated to her job protecting the President (James Marsden), who also happens to be her secret boyfriend. And while she kicked hella ass that first season, much of her story hinged on that romance. Cut to season 2 where Robinson leans into questioning the very system and bureaucracy to which she was previously duty-bound. Krys injects what feels like a breath of fresh air into a character I already loved. Not only is season 2 Robinson rocking her natural hair, she’s also rocking a newfound wit and biting sarcasm that had me laughing out loud multiple times. She’s now less willing to simply fall in line, and that frees her up to quite literally kick ass after being framed for murder. I also loved watching her act as a pseudo mother figure to Xavier’s daughter Presley, but now that Teri’s back in the picture, my hope for season 3 is that those two badass Black women get to team up against whatever/whoever the heck Alex is. – Nic
Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Writer / Showrunner
Nominees: Brittani Nichols, Abbott Elementary (writer / producer) // Mae Martin, Wayward (Showrunner/Writer/Director) // Lena Waithe, The Chi (Showrunner) // Kat Sadler, Such Brave Girls (Creator/Writer/Producer) // Clea DuVall, Poker Face (Director)
Just before landing a job in the writers’ room on Abbott Elementary, Brittani Nichols had parlayed her success as a writer/performer on A Black Lady Sketch Show into an opportunity to helm her own show. But then, Quibi — the streaming platform that was set to develop Nichols’ series — shuttered and she stepped back into the writers’ room, adding her unique brand of humor to someone else’s vision.
Nichols has made the most of her time at Abbott: climbing up the ranks to becoming one of the show’s executive producers, writing multiple episodes a season, and stepping into the director’s chair. In a recent interview, AE creator Quinta Brunson suggested that the show’s fifth season felt like “filler,” but I’d disagree. The season captured the necessary, but not-so-glamorous, work of adulting and few episodes captured those themes better than the ones Nichols helmed. Whether it was the trip to the DMV in “Game Night” or Janine and Gregory breaking the bad communication habits they’d inherited from their parents in “Ava & Fest,” it felt — to me — like the most relatable that Abbott Elementary has ever been. That’s Brittani Nichols’ hallmark.
Now, Nichols will pack up her Emmys and take the lessons she learned at Abbott and redirect her energy towards developing her own work. Given what she’s shown us already, I can’t wait to see it…but for now, I’m just happy to celebrate her work on Abbott Elementary one more time. – Natalie
Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role: Jean Smart as Deborah, Hacks
Danielle Deadwyler as Dylan Shepard, Rooster // Kate O’Flynn as Patricia, Widow’s Bay // Katherine LaNasa as Nurse Dana Evans, The Pitt // Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary // Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary // Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriela Torabi, Paradise // Jessica Williams as Gabby, Shrinking
Listen, these are the gay television awards, but sometimes we have to throw a bone to the straight divas who are holding it down for heterosexual shenanigans on television. For the second year, Jean Smart takes home the trophy for Outstanding Performance By a Straight Actress in a Straight Role for her work in the tremendous final season of Hacks. She deserves this award for her delivery of “don’t you dare bring up a-s-s after you just said I like to EAT it” in “Montecito” — which if I haven’t made it clear yet I do consider to be one of the greatest episodes of television of all time — alone. But of course, the wide range of work she did in the final season, including making me sob throughout much of the finale, is worthy of celebration. She’s a one-of-a-kind performer. – KKU
Outstanding Cis Male Character: Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander, Heated Rivalry
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, Heated Rivalry // Nick Offerman as Jinx Millet, Margot’s Got Money Trouble // Jeff Hiller as Dale, Widow’s Bay // Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, Paradise // Paul W. Downs as Jimmy Lusaque, Jr. in Hacks
Shane Hollander’s most transcendent moments were quiet ones, how easily viewers could decipher everything he wanted to say but didn’t, the anxiety underneath his searching eyes, the truth only within reach when he was, for example, extremely high in the hospital after surgery. Playing a closeted hockey player having world’s longest affair with his on-ice rival, Ilya (embodied in a next-level performance by Connor Storie), Hudson Williams endeared many lesbians to join a wildly passionate Heated Rivalry audience, a show that provided respite from a cruel world for months this past winter. We all committed to coming to the cottage and to this escapist fantasy of gorgeous gay love in a homophobic sport. Shane can yearn with the best of them. – Riese
Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character: Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) in Gen V
Lucy (Ariana DeBose) in Scarpetta // Tallulah (Odessa A’zion) in I Love L.A. // Regan Aliyah as Juliana, XO, Kitty // Rhonda (Sara Yarkin) in School Spirits // Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), XO Kitty
Yet another contender coming back with a second nomination but first time win, just in the nick of time. Gen V might be over, but I’ll never forget these young supes and their quest for justice. Marie is one of the most powerful supes we’ve seen across Gen V and its parent show, The Boys; she kicks ass and always looks good doing it. Jaz Singlair has talked about how involved she was in her character’s hair, choosing smaller locs for season two which allowed for a little more versatility; it allowed for her iconic pigtails, for example. Jaz mentioned that as a Black woman she has a lot of horror stories, so she was grateful to have a team she trusted and who trusted her as they worked together to create Marie’s signature looks – and with great success, clearly. – Valerie
Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters: Anastasia Magoutas, Ponies
Kathleen Felix-Hager, Hacks // Leslie Kavanagh, The Testaments // Arjun Bhasin, The Beast In Me // Heidi Higginbotham, The Hunting Wives // Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, …And Just Like That
When you’re doing a period piece, there is little more important to selling the world than the costumes. And sell it they did. From Twila’s iconic furs to Bea’s smart suits to Cheryl’s uptight look, and so many shades of orange and gold, every outfit screamed the 70s to me. Plus, the Russian touches galore. Like the hats! So many great Russian hats. And, of course, I will be forever grateful to Anastasia Magoutas and her team for putting Twila in a men’s blazer and tie, only to have Ivanna take the blazer off, and also for them both to end up in hotel robes. A fabulous touch to a sexy sapphic scene. – Valerie
Fan Favorite LGBTQ+ Couple: Maeve and Sophia, Shortland Street
Runners-up: Shane and Ilya, Heated Rivalry
Fan Favorite LGBTQ Character: Sophia, Shortland Street
Runner-up: Shane, Heated Rivalry
Fan Favorite Out LGBTQ+ Actor: Jess Sayer, Shortland Street
Runner-up: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
