Every year, GLAAD likes to shine a light on films and TV series that are going above and beyond to present fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. These awards aren’t there to mirror the Academy Awards or Golden Globes, but for the LGBTQ community, these are the films and TV series that GLAAD feels are the best of 2018.
However, with that being said, there’s one major omission from this year’s awards – “Bohemian Rhapsody.” While your mileage may vary on how well you think the film presented the LGBTQ community, it’s hard to ignore a film that grossed $800 million worldwide and featured a queer character at its core. But that’s exactly what GLAAD is doing this year, and it has nothing to do with the content on the screen. Instead, it has everything to do with the man behind the camera – Bryan Singer.
For those that haven’t been following Film Twitter over the last week, Singer has once again landed in the headlines after the Atlantic released an article that detailed 4 more allegations (in addition to the numerous reports that already exist) of the director taking advantage and sexually assaulting underage boys. In response to that, Singer flatly denied the claims. But that’s not enough to sway the folks at GLAAD.
In a statement to Variety, GLAAD says, “In light of the latest allegations against director Bryan Singer, GLAAD has made the difficult decision to remove ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ from contention for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category this year. This week’s story in The Atlantic documenting unspeakable harms endured by young men and teenage boys brought to light a reality that cannot be ignored or even tacitly rewarded.”
The statement continues, “Singer’s response to The Atlantic story wrongfully used ‘homophobia’ to deflect from sexual assault allegations and GLAAD urges the media and the industry at large to not gloss over the fact that survivors of sexual assault should be put first.”
With that drama aside, GLAAD did release the nominees for this year’s awards. And in an unprecedented move, which obviously signals that the representation for the LGBTQ community is becoming more and more common in film, the group expanded its Limited Release category from 5 to 10 films. The Wide Release category still stands at 5 nominees.
Major films like “Blockers,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” and “Deadpool 2” highlight the Wide Release category, while the Limited Release category gives some much-deserved love to underrated films like “We the Animals,” “Hearts Beat Loud,” and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post.”
On the TV side, 20 series were highlighted (10 in Drama and 10 in comedy), with “Pose,” “Super Girl,” and “Superstore” gaining noms.
Here are the film and TV nominees for this year’s GLAAD Awards (full list, including music, video game, and comic categories on Variety):
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
“Blockers” (Universal)
“Crazy Rich Asians” (Warner Bros.)
“Deadpool 2” (20th Century Fox)
“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” (Sony Pictures)
“Love, Simon” (20th Century Fox)
Outstanding Film – Limited Release
“1985” (Wolfe Releasing)
“Boy Erased” (Focus Features)
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Fox Searchlight)
“Disobedience” (Bleecker Street)
“The Favourite” (Fox Searchlight)
“Hearts Beat Loud” (Gunpowder & Sky)
“A Kid Like Jake” (IFC Films)
“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” (FilmRise)
“Saturday Church” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“We the Animals” (The Orchard)
Outstanding Drama Series
“Billions” (Showtime)
“Black Lightning” (The CW)
“Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
“Instinct” (CBS)
“Pose” (FX)
“Shadowhunters” (Freeform)
“Star” (Fox)
“Supergirl” (The CW)
“Wynonna Earp” (Syfy)
Outstanding Comedy Series
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (FOX, now NBC)
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (The CW)
“Dear White People” (Netflix)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“One Day at a Time” (Netflix)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
“Superstore” (NBC)
“This Close” (Sundance Now)
“Vida” (Starz)
“Will & Grace” (NBC)
Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series w/o a regular LGBTQ character)
“King in the North,” “Fresh Off the Boat” (ABC)
“Prom,” “Fuller House” (Netflix)
“Service,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC)
“She,” “The Good Doctor” (ABC)
“Someplace Other Than Here,” “The Guest Book” (TBS)
Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series
“American Horror Story: Apocalypse” (FX)
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (FX)
“Life-Size 2” (Freeform)
“Sense8” (Netflix)
“A Very English Scandal” (Amazon Prime)
Outstanding Documentary
“Believer” (HBO)
“Call Her Ganda” (Breaking Glass Pictures)
“My House” (Viceland)
“Quiet Heroes” (Logo)
“When the Beat Drops” (Logo)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming
“Adventure Time” (Cartoon Network)
“Andi Mack” (The Disney Channel)
“Anne with an E” (Netflix)
“She-Ra” (Netflix)
“Steven Universe” (Cartoon Network)
Outstanding Reality Program
“American Idol” (ABC)
“I Am Jazz” (TLC)
“Love & Hip Hop” (VH1)
“Queer Eye” (Netflix)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (VH1)