Obviously you already know that this year’s GLAAD Media Award’s Category-to-Watch is Outstanding Blog, because yours dearly/truly has been nominated for that particular honor. But it might surprise you to hear that there are other categories which have also nominated other things for other awards! Let’s discuss!
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
This coveted category includes Blue is the Warmest Color, which 75% of the lesbian population loved really hard and Kate disliked really hard and my girlfriend refuses to watch with me because it’s too long. Then there’s Dallas Buyers Club, of which our reviewer Eleven noted “despite its pro-gay attitude, the film fails to break the pattern of transphobic narratives in cinema.” Tween fantasy The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was one of the worst-reviewed films of the year but there was a gay SHADOWHUNTER in it named Alec! Killing Your Darlings was a Sundance favorite about the early lives of Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, which sounds pretty rad. Philomena is the story of one mother’s 50-year-search for the (spoiler alert: GAY) son she gave up out of wedlock. I hope Blue wins, because lesbians should win everything.
Outstanding Film – Limited Release
“The first thing you should know about Concussion is that Robin Weigert has sex. A lot of sex. With a lot of women, no two of them alike,” wrote Scribegrrrl about this year’s nominee Concussion. If you wanna watch it and see for yourself, it’s streaming on Wolfe-on-Demand. Speaking of Wolfe, Wolfe Releasing has a nominee in this category for Reaching for The Moon, about Elizabeth Bishop’s big trip to Rio to visit her college friend Mary and subsequent affair with “Mary’s bohemian partner, architect Lota de Macedo Soares.” Cute teen movie Geography Club, about a group of LGBTQ teens who form a secret gay club pretend like it’s a Geography Club, has an exciting little cast that includes Alex Newell as an 80% straight/20% gay human being. Out in the Dark is a gay love story between a Palestinian student and an Israeli lawyer. Yossi is an Israeli film about “a closeted gay cardiologist who struggles to find meaning in his life while overcoming the loss of his lover and reconciling his past with his future.”
Outstanding Drama Series
This is a great category for the ladies because lesbians are really dramatic. My personal pick, The Fosters, is about two lesbian Moms and their many crafty children. Grey’s Anatomy is in the mix, I presume, because Calizona. I hear they didn’t have a great year. Pretty Little Liars, which fills the strawberries of our minds with the Emily Fields of our hearts and features a group of girls who still haven’t learned not to go to dark mysterious places late at night by themselves, is nominated, and if they win then Emily, Paige, Shauna, Samara, the Ghost of Maya, Ali and Jenna will all have to fight for the trophy and who will survive? Ezra probs. A fantastic Canadian sci-fi show you should be watching, Orphan Black, is also nominated and it features a gay male lead character and also a nerdy lesbian clone in cute glasses. Everybody deserves their own lesbian club! Then we have Shameless, a show I have never seen BUT I’ve seen their most recent preview at least 56 times because it was always on between Homeland and Masters of Sex. I’m pretty sure there aren’t any lesbians on it, though.
Danielle Brooks as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson, Taylor Shilling as Piper, Vicky Jeudy as Janae Watson and Samira Wiley as Poussey
Outstanding Comedy Series
Once again, the notorious white water rafting nature show Glee has snagged a nod, ’cause Glee is chock full of LGBTS: Santana and Dani, two lesbians who don’t tongue-kiss enough; Kurt and Blaine, two gay boys who enjoy singing and dancing; and Unique, a black transgender woman seemingly put on the show for the Glee writers to play out their transphobia onscreen, much like Ilene Chaiken once did with Max. GLEE!
Then there’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is breaking stereotypes with its gay police chief, and, obviously, Modern Family, a show featuring a gay couple who constantly undermine each other and bicker all the time!
Kaitlyn had this to say about Pivot’s Please Like Me, which I’ve never heard of: “The short-lived Australian show pretty perfectly captures the uncertainty and frustration of having an okay life and yet not being happy or knowing what to do about it. The main character, Josh, has to take over when all the adults in his life start acting like children, an if nothing else, it’s worth watching just for his accented bickering with his crazy Aunt Peggy.”
Last but not least — because actually it’s “most” — is Orange is the New Black, our favorite show of all time ever. Honestly Orange is the New Black should win everything, including Outstanding Newspaper Article.
Outstanding Music Artist
Did you know Elton John released an album about diving boards last year? I did not. But I did know that Tegan & Sara released an album, and they’re nominated in this category along with Lady Gaga’s Art Pop, Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires and Goldfrapp’s Tales of Us.
Photography © 2010 Katherine Fairfax Wright via Call Me Kuchu
Outstanding Documentary
Valentine Road is Marta Cunningham’s HBO documentary about the murder of Larry King. The New Black, from Yoruba Richen and Promised Land Films, looks at divisions within the African-American community around the issue of marriage equality. God Loves Uganda explores the American evangelical movement within Uganda and how that has created the dangerous legislated bigotry in the area. In Call Me Kucha, activist David Kato works with retired Anglican Bisohp Christopher Senyonjo to defeat Uganda’s anti-gay bill, but everything is shaken by the brutal murder of David Kato. Bridgeroom tells the story of two young gay men whose relationship is cut short when one man falls off the side of a roof and dies, with the aftermath detailing “how people without the legal protections of marriage can find themselves completely shut out and ostracized.”
Outstanding Reality Program
I am the worst w/r/t Reality Television because I hate all of it! However, Dream School has a transgender character named Alan, who dropped out of high school because of bullying, and he becomes besties with 50 Cent and from what I’ve seen of the show — which also features lesbian finance “guru” Suze Orman — it’s a pretty solid production! Cyndi Lauper: So Unusual follows the life and loves of LGBT ally Cyndi Lauper. “Gospel prodigy turned larger-than-life Bounce Star” Big Freedia’s show, Big Freeida:Queen of Bounce, is Fuse’s most popular original series ever and a great platform for its star who is “on a mission to take New Orleans’ Bounce music from the clubs of Canal Street to the top of the charts and the great arenas of the world.” Small Town Security features a transgender security specialist named Dennis Croft. Also, Project Runway still exists!
Oustanding Comic Book
I brought in our Comics Expert Mey for this one:
It’s good to see so much representation for the queer ladies in this year’s nominees. Although it would be nice if more of the creators were women to go along with the characters. First of all, we’ve got Batwoman, written by W. Haden Blackman, J.H. Williams III and Mark Andreyko from DC Comics. This comic is probably the frontrunner (at least among comic fans) for its groundbreaking role as the first DC title headlined by a queer woman and it’s gorgeous art, unique style and brilliant writing. Plus, it’s one of the few DC titles that hasn’t been completely ruined by the New52 relaunch (that is until the creative team left because the title character wasn’t allowed to marry her fiance). Still, this was a great year for Batwoman, one that featured her teaming up with Wonder Woman, asking her girlfriend to marry her, and her title continuing to have dark and intense writing and some of the most unique and groundbreaking art in all of mainstream comics.
Life With Archie, by Paul Kupperberg, is probably the other title most people will be most familiar with. Even though he’s definitely not nearly the cultural icon he used to be, people still look to Archie and see a representation of wholesome American values, so that’s what makes it so great that not only did they introduce a gay character, Kevin Keller, but the comic has continued to highlight and support him, even throwing things in the face of protests from the likes of One Million Moms.
Husbands is an alternate universe comic book version of a sitcom that is billed as “the world’s first marriage equality comedy” and is written by Jane Espenson and Brad Bell.
My two favorites of the bunch are these next two. First, there’s Marvel’s Fearless Defenders, written by Cullen Bunn. This was one of the few all-female superhero teams at either of the big two comic companies. Featuring characters like Valkyrie, Misty Knight, Dani Moonstar and Dr. Annabelle Riggs. Riggs was one of Marvel’s few lesbian characters, and they unfortunately killed her off pretty early on. They redeemed themselves a little by bringing her back from the dead (only to share a body with Valkyrie), but the death still rubbed a lot of readers the wrong way. While the art was sometimes a little too “Escher Girl,” it was great seeing a comic book about a team of badass lady superheroes kicking butt and having a good time together. Even the supporting cast was filled with other ladies, ranging from Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons to Clea the sorceress and Elsa Bloodstone.
Now, the final nominee is Young Avengers, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Another Marvel title, this book takes a bunch of the young superheroes of the Marvel world (Hulking, Wiccan, Hawkeye, Prodigy, Kid Loki, Noh-Varr and Miss America Chavez being the main group) and sends them off on adventures as a teenage version of Marvel’s greatest superhero group. This book was revolutionary in the way it portrayed young superheroes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a superhero comic that seemed to capture what it’s like to be a teenager this well since the initial run of Runaways. The writing was funny and exciting and filled with great references, the art was fresh, cool and included page layouts that you couldn’t find anywhere else. Plus, by the end of the series, literally the entire team was revealed to be queer except for one character who many fans are still holding out hope for. While some of the storylines were definitely driven by the character’s relationships (and therefore their queerness), this was not an explicitly queer title. Everyone just turned out to be gay. It was a mainstream comic that happened to feature 90% queer characters. Instead of having one or two token queers on the team, it took a more realistic approach, showing a group of queer people sticking together. Seriously, how many queer people living in New York hang out with an exclusively straight crowd? Not only did this book feature a huge group of unique and fully fleshed out queer characters, but it also featured several queer people of color. This title was a breath of fresh air and never stopped being fun to read or relevant.
Media Journalism Awards
There is a lot happening in this area this year! We’ve linked up these bits so you can watch, read and learn for yourself and decide who should be declared Queen of the Prom.
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine
“Chris to Kristin: A Navy Seal’s Secret” Anderson Cooper 360 – CNN
“India’s Third Gender”The Stream -Al Jazeera America
“The Rebounder: The Kenneth Faried Story” E:60 – ESPN
“Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz” 20/20 – ABC
“The Welcoming Movement” To the Contrary – PBS
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment
“Gay Rights at Work” MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts – MSNBC
“Portman Reverses Position on Gay Marriage” Starting Point – CNN
“Pride & Prejudice” Melissa Harris-Perry – MSNBC
“Scouts Dishonor” The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell – MSNBC
“Wild Blue Yonder: Scott Hines” The Rachel Maddow Show – MSNBC
Outstanding Newspaper Article
“Boy or Girl? Gender a New Challenge for Schools” by Martha Irvine – Associated Press
“Gay Ex-mayor Who Fled U.S. Awaits Immigration Change” by Jeremy Roebuck – San Antonio Express-News [San Antonio, Texas]
“LGBTQ in the Capital” (series) by Melissa Griffiths – Juneau Empire [Juneau, Alaska]
“Poor Black and Hispanic Men Are the Face of H.I.V.” by Donald G. McNeil, Jr. – The New York Times
“Why Bisexuals Stay in the Closet” by Emily Alpert – Los Angeles Times
Outstanding Magazine Article
“The Hidden War Against Gay Teens” by Alex Morris – Rolling Stone
“Owning the Middle” by Kate Fagan – ESPN The Magazine
“The Perfect Wife” by Ariel Levy -The New Yorker
“What’s Wrong With Exxon?” by Antonia Juhasz – The Advocate
“Why Gay and Lesbian Couples Pay More” by Carolyn M. Brown – Black Enterprise
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article
“How Fallon Fox Became the First Known Transgender Athlete in MMA” by Loretta Hunt – SportsIllustrated.CNN.com
“How One Lawyer Turned the Idea of Marriage Equality into Reality” by Chris Geidner – Buzzfeed.com
“Prime Timers: Spotlight on LGBT Seniors” (series) – Advocate.com
“Repression and Gay Rights in Russia” by Sean Guillory – TheNation.com
“Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don’t Tell Your Partner is a Crime” by Sergio Hernandez – Buzzfeed.com / ProPublica.org
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia
“Bisexuals Get Their Turn In The White House” by Alyona Minkovski – Live.HuffingtonPost.com
“Coming Out Kicking” by Cyd Zeigler – Outsports.com
“Remixing the Trans and Hip Hop Conversation” by Marc Lamont Hill – Live.HuffingtonPost.com
“To Get Married, They Left Ohio” by Julie Zimmerman on behalf of the Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board – Cincinnati.Com
“We Are Here: LGBTI in Uganda” by Sunnivie Brydum, D. David Robinson – Advocate.com
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage
And, of course, once more for good measure …
Outstanding Blog
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
You can check out all the nominees in all of the categories over at Glaad.
I really really want to see Kill Your Darlings (which is called Kill Your Darlings, not Killing The Darlings, but now I’m imagining a film about a secret plot to murder the Darling family from the Andy Griffith Show and I want to see that imaginary film as well)
Ahh, I’m so excited for Orphan Black (although, gotta give credit to the Canadians for it, although it runs on BBC America, it has nothing to do with the actual BBC). Cosima is wonderful, and Felix is as well.
I’m also pumped about the best single episode nom for Elementary, the episode with Ms. Hudson, played by Candice Cayne. I wish they’d bring her back! What a wonderful addition to the regular cast that would be.
Candis*, even. Should proofread my own comments more.
I know! I totally hope Ms. Hudson comes back to another episode (or episodes) of Elementary!
i was really,really impressed by how the sex scenes were handled in concussion. however, i have a huge crush on adele exarchopoulos so i hope bitwc wins. thanks for the links to the articles nominated I’m going to read all of them right now. and lastly CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I call it now, autostraddle is going to win it. cause you guys deserve all the awards
Blue is the Warmest color is not the lesbian movie we were sold. I don’t mean just that none of the cast are lesbians, and clearly none of the production team are lesbians and it was shot and directed by straight men.
the story is supposed to be lesbian coming out story. But actually the woman who ‘comes out’ is at best Bi and aat worst bi-curious. I am not having a go at Bi women, but if its a Bi coming out story that doesnt make it a lesbioan coming out story. lesbians do NOT jump into bed with men when their girlfriend ignores them. other women, yes, but they just do not go dancing with a male colleague and have an affair.
and the sex scene is not realistic. some of it is stuff women do, but its a straight, male, made up version of what they think women do.
and the straight male voyeurism.. the wet dream, the shots of her booty. a male artist talking about how art is all about womens sexuality
It IS great that it has caused so much debate. and it is great to get a ‘mainstream’ indie film about this subject. But if they had had one lesbian influence, writer, editor, whatever – it could have been so much more.
Blue is the Gayest Color was really problematic and I could talk about all of the issues at length (some of which you’ve already helped address, thank you!), but for now I want to talk about your comment because I found some of the things in there didn’t sit right with me.
– I think it was the media that ran with the idea of the movie being a “lesbian story”. The French title of the movie translated to “The Life of Adele, Chapters 1 and 2”. The story is meant to be the coming of age tale of this young girl, Adele. Her experiences are her own and aren’t meant to represent a “lesbian/bisexual/whatever experience”.
– “Lesbians do NOT jump into bed with men when their girlfriend ignores them.” Lesbians do plenty of things for all sorts of reasons, especially when driven by a slew of confusing emotions like Adele. Adele never identifies as a lesbian, but the legitimacy of her sexual orientation and however she may identify (if she *ever* chooses to identify as anything at all) should not be determined by the actions she takes. Her identity is determined by how she self-identifies.
– The sex scene is problematic for all sorts of reasons, but by saying only “some” of it is stuff that “real women” do to each other creates a limited definition of what “real lesbian sex” is. The acts themselves were not the problem. All of the acts in that scene are perfectly legitimate ways for a woman to have sex. The problems in the scene come from how it was shot, lit, and compiled/written. Not because certain things aren’t “what women do”.
So much straight male voyeurism, yes! So much “mythical female sexuality” trope, yes! So, SO much ass ogling in that movie! But I must admit I found some of your arguments limit the expression of female sexuality.
*mystical female sexuality
Thank you for articulating many of the things I found problematic with this movie, Monique.
Can we add “needed to be cut down by about 60 minutes” to the list of flaws, too? I can dig long movies, but those extra minutes have to have *purpose* and so much of the BITWC felt like art house wankery and completely unnecessary.
Really, the whole thing was a gross misuse of the lead actresses’ considerable talents. And my time.
They probably could have cut out a good thirty minutes worth of spaghetti eating, to be honest.
Totally rooting for Orphan Black (which is Canadian, btw). I haven’t had the chance to read Young Avengers, so I don’t know if I should support it or Batwoman. Honestly I’d be happy if either of them won.
And obviously, WOO AUTOSTRADDLE! I hope you win it this year, it’s totally deserved as far as I’m concerned
Lots of great stuff here! I’m pleased to see Batwoman nominated because World’s Finest was a stunning arc, although I still haven’t read anything that came after that and don’t know what the comic is like without Williams and Blackman at the helm.
Haven’t managed to see any of the films nominated, but on the TV front I’m rooting for Orphan Black (because Cosima and Felix) and OITNB.
Also, Autostraddle should win all the awards ever.
I am surprised ESPN is nominated as they have a stake in Grandland, and we know the huge fuck up they did over there. Then a part of me does want to see ESPN win as I grew up watching that channel. So, I am not sure how I’d feel if they win.
It is truly all about Orphan Black. Cosima-the-clone owns my heart.
“Geography Club”…. because I guess these kids didn’t have a drama department at their school?
I love Please Like Me!!! It’s so sweet. The title sequences are my favorite.
I know it’s hardly one of the more important categories, but as a person who semi-professionally covers daytime soaps, I’m really psyched that Days Of Our Lives was the *only* nominee in the category. That might sound weird but I think it’s a good sign — in the past, any soap could be nominated by throwing in a gay recurring character who had no love life and usually just showed up to toss in exposition in a hospital or at a crime scene. Right now ALL the extant daytime soaps have gay characters on the canvas, but Days is the only one where they actually have a significant love story. So I was thrilled to see that an actual story got honored instead of the usual tokenism, even if it left it as the only nominee.
If OiTNB doesn’t win, someone has lost their fool minds.
And as for Concussion, while imperfect, it was wildly refreshing to see a lesbian movie that wasn’t a coming out/experimenting/etc story. Hey neat! We lesbians have stories that aren’t just about realizing we’re lesbians! (Or murdering people, of course. Those seem to be the only two major queer-lady genres: Lesbian Comes Out, Lesbian Murders A Lot.)
Oh dear. I digressed. Mostly: go Autostraddle!
Yay to PLL finally being nominated! There’s no show on US TV with more lesbian, bi and queer women on it! Now Marlene King need to start getting more recognition. She really deserves it.
Lost Girl seriously should have been nominated.
After their trans*-vilifying ep last season? No thanks…
Didn’t stop GLAAD from nominating Glee (ugh). And Lost Girl is a million times less problematic, overall, than Glee (which isn’t to say there weren’t some serious issues with that particular episode).
Lost Girl moved up the “problematic scale” when they decided to kill off their ONE non-white (read: black) recurring character to advance some other person’s story line. Also, the whole BO/Lauren/ Dyson love triangle is really just aggravating at this point.