On September 14, the actual 2025 Emmys will take place. But every year we do our very own little Emmys, the Autostraddle TV Awards. They were created as a response to and a step beyond those official awards, a way to celebrate the many queer stories so often overlooked during award season.

The field has been narrowing the past few years, and that continues now — fewer gay shows are getting made, and the initial burst of authentic queer content of the 2010s has vanished. But that makes it more important than ever to celebrate the television still making its way to your screens and hearts, the creators fighting against monumental financial odds to still deliver queer stories.

Trust us: Once you have to vote in some of these categories, you’ll realize there’s still a lot to choose between.

How it Works: For the past few weeks, the queer critics who make up our TV Team have collaborated on a lengthy process to determine the year’s nominees in each of our Autostraddle TV Awards categories. We have 21 whole categories, and while there’s some Emmys overlap, we’ve also created a lot of our own categories that are too often overlooked by mainstream awards systems, like genre television.

Now, it’s your turn to help us pick the winners. Individual Autostraddle readers can vote once in each category. Your votes will be combined with the TV Team’s final votes to choose the winners.

There are also three fan-favorite categories that YOU get to decide completely yourselves! Those categories are Fan Favorite Couples, Fan Favorite Character, and Fan Favorite Out Queer Actor.

We follow the same rules as the Emmys as far as timeline, which means the shows must have aired between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025 in order to be eligible. (This means Murderbot and Nine Perfect Strangers Season Two are not eligible!) While the show’s full season does not need to have aired during that range, most of its episodes must have aired.

Here is your official ballot!

Voting is now open and will close on August 25th at noon EST. The winners will be announced on September 11.

AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE 8TH ANNUAL AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS ARE…

Outstanding Comedy Series

Hacks (HBO Max)
No Good Deed (Netflix)
XO Kitty (Netflix)
Overcompensating (Prime Video)
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Poker Face (Peacock)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max)

Outstanding Drama Series

Fifteen-Love (AMC+)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Criminal Minds: Evolution (Paramount+)
Heartstopper (Netflix)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Matlock (CBS)

Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Series

Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC+)
Severance (Apple TV)
The Last of Us (HBO Max)
Agatha All Along (Disney+)
Sunny (Apple TV)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Wheel of Time (Prime Video)

Outstanding Animated Series

Harley Quinn, season 5 (Max)
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (Prime Video)
The Legend of Vox Machina (Prime Video)
Arcane (Netflix)
#1 Happy Family USA (Prime Video)
Big Mouth (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Jasmine Savoy-Brown as Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets
Tawny Cypress as Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets
Sophie Nélisse as Shauna, Yellowjackets
Melanie Lynskey as Shauna, Yellowjackets
Ella Lily Hyland as Justine Pierce, Fifteen Love
Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent, Heartstopper

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Liv Hewson as Van Pamer, Yellowjackets
Lauren Ambrose as Van, Yellowjackets
Midori Franis as Mika Yasuda, Grey’s Anatomy
Samira Wiley as Moira, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sarah Greene as Bibi Garvey, Bad Sisters
Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, Special Ops: Lioness

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series

Hannah Einbinder as Ava, Hacks
Amit Kaur as Bela Malhotra, Sex Lives of College Girls
Victoria Bazua as Kate, Land of Women
Linda Cardellini as Margo Starling, No Good Deed
Anna Catchcart as Kitty Song Covey, XO Kitty
Jerrie Johnson as Tye, Harlem

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series

Robbie Hoffman as Randi, Hacks
Regan Aliyah as Juliana, XO Kitty
Abbi Jacobson as Leslie Fisher, No Good Deed
Poppy Liu as Sarah Webber, No Good Deed
Kate Moennig as Gwen, No Good Deed
Ruby Cruz as Ash, Sex Lives of College Girls

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

Kathryn Hahn as Agatha, Agatha All Along
Bella Ramsey as Ellie, The Last of Us
Rashida Jones as Suzie, Sunny
Krysten Ritter as Lucy / Young Dr. Eleanor Miller, Orphan Black: Echoes
Natasia Demetriou as Nadja, What We Do In the Shadows

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

Isabel Merced as Dina, The Last of Us
Aubrey Plaza as Rio/Death, Agatha All Along
Annie the Clumsy as Mixxy, Sunny
Babirye Bukilwa as Sammie, Domino Day
Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche, Wheel of Time
Jen Tullock as Devon Scout-Hale, Severance

Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character

Kate, Land of Women
Kitty Song Covey, XO Kitty
Taissa, Yellowjackets
Van, Yellowjackets
Shauna, Yellowjackets
Elle Argent, Heartstopper

Most Groundbreaking Representation (Show)

Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max)
Agatha All Along (Disney+)
Land of Women (Apple TV)
XO Kitty (Netflix)
Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC)
The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO Max)

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Comedy

Hannah Einbinder in Hacks
Cynthia Erivo in Poker Face
Mary Beth Barone in Overcompensating
Amrit Kaur in Sex Lives of College Girls
Renée Rapp in Sex Lives of College Girls
Megan Stalter in Hacks

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Drama

Jasmin Savoy Brown in Yellowjackets
Liv Hewson in Yellowjackets
Ayo Edebiri in The Bear
Supriya Ganesh in The Pitt
Cherry Jones in The Handmaids Tale
Adelaide Kane in Grey’s Anatomy
Midori Francis in Grey’s Anatomy
Krys Marshall in Paradise

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show

Aubrey Plaza in Agatha All Along
Sasheer Zamata in Agatha All Along
Bella Ramsey in Last of Us
Isabella Merced in Last of Us
Jen Tullock in Severance
Amandla Stenberg in The Acolyte

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Writer / Showrunner

Brittani Nichols, Abbott Elementary (writer / producer)
Leslye Headland, Star Wars: The Acolyte (showrunner)
Emily St. James, Yellowjackets (writer)
Desiree Akhavan, Overcompensating (director)
Clea Duvall, Poker Face (director)
Nahnatchka Kahn, Laid (showrunner)

Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role

Bridget Everett as Sam, Somebody Somewhere
Catherine O’Hara as Patty Leigh, The Studio
Natasha Rothwell as Melissa, How to Die Alone
Jean Smart as Deborah, Hacks
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary
Jessica Williams as Gaby, Shrinking

Outstanding Cis Male Character

Benito Skinner as Benny (Benito Skinner), Overcompensating
Noah Wyle as Dr. Rob (Noah Wyle), The Pitt
Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), The Last of Us
Sterling K Brown as Xavier Collins, Paradise
Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks in The Bear
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie in The Bear

Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character

Marley, Survival of the Thickest (Monique Gaffney)
Amrit Kaur as Bela, Sex Lives of College Girls
Agatha, Agatha All Along (Cindy Welles)
Mixxy, Sunny
Dina, The Last of Us
Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets

Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters

Keia Bounds, Survival of the Thickest
Daniel Selon, Agatha All Along
Kathleen Felix-Hager, Hacks
Leah Katznelson, Poker Face
Sharon Gilham, The Wheel of Time
Marie Schley, Yellowjackets

To vote in the above categories as well as the THREE SPECIAL FAN FAVORITE CATEGORIES*, go forth!

VOTE IN THE AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS!!!

*When voting in the fan favorite categories, please keep the eligibility guidelines in mind and only nominate couples/characters/actors who appeared in shows that aired between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025. Otherwise your vote will be wasted!

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!