GLAAD Honors ‘Pose,’ ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and ‘Booksmart’

Marc Malkin and Janet W. Lee
·5 min read

It’s no surprise that politics took center stage at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards.

While Rachel Maddow accepted her award for outstanding TV journalism segment for her interview with Pete Buttigeig on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” she said, “We are at a point where an openly gay TV host can accept an award for an interview with an openly gay major presidential candidate. Progress in this country is very rarely linear, and it barely happens on its own. If you are at all inspired by the progress you see, please vote, organize, run for office, and if you’re enraged by the regression that you see, please vote, organize and run for office.”

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Since 1990, GLAAD Media Awards has celebrated the visibility of LGBTQ experiences in media and honored accurate and inclusive representations of queer people of color. In lieu of its usual glamorous setup in New York City, the virtual ceremony provided an intimate platform for LGBTQ stars to empower trans youths, in light of the Trump administration’s attempts to rollback progress that has been made for trans civil rights and healthcare.

The ceremony further addressed the importance of Black LGBTQ representation onscreen. “Pose” star Angelica Ross spoke of the recent events that ignited the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. “When we saw that video of white police officers killing George Floyd, we exploded,” she said. “Those images inflamed and emboldened us. So when we protest and post, let’s continue to change the way folks think about Black lives, especially Black LGBTQ lives, by telling our stories on screen.”

She wrapped up her speech with a call to action: “Allies, we need you to call out transphobia, homophobia and racism the moment you are done watching. That’s how we start seeing content, and we start experiencing justice.”

The GLAAD Media Awards, held virtually for the first time on Thursday after being postponed because of the pandemic, was hosted by Fortune Feimster and Gina Yashere and featured performances from Choe x Halle, Shea Diamond and Ben Platt.

“Pose,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Booksmart” picked up the top honors.

Ryan Murphy and Steven Canals’ “Pose” was named outstanding drama series while “Schitt’s Creek” nabbed the outstanding comedy series trophy. The Outstanding film: wide release award went to “Booksmart,” Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut about two best friends’ (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) last days of high school.

Sponsors for the 31st annual event included Delta Air Lines, Gilead, P&G and Wells Fargo.

See the complete list of winners below:

Outstanding Film – Wide Release: “Booksmart” (United Artists Releasing)

Outstanding Film – Limited Release: “Rafiki”(Film Movement)

Outstanding Drama Series: “Pose” (FX)

Outstanding Comedy Series: “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)

Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series w/o a regular LGBTQ character): “Two Doors Down,” “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings” (Netflix)

Outstanding TV Movie: “Transparent: Musicale Finale” (Amazon)

Outstanding Limited Series: “Tales of the City” (Netflix)

Outstanding Documentary: “State of Pride” (YouTube)

Outstanding Kids & Family Programming [TIE]: “The Bravest Knight” (Hulu) and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” (Disney+)

Outstanding Reality Program: “Are You the One?” (MTV)

Outstanding Music Artist: Lil Nas X, 7 (Columbia)

Outstanding Comic Book: “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra,” by Simon Spurrier, Emilio Laiso, Andrea Broccardo, Wilton Santos, Caspar Wijngaard, Marc Deering, Don Ho, Walden Wong, Chris Bolson, Scott Hanna, Elsa Charretier, Rachelle Rosenberg, Chris O’Halloran, Stephane Paitreau, Lee Loughridge, Edgar Delgado, Jim Campbell, Joe Caramagna (Marvel Comics)

Outstanding Video Game: The Outer Worlds (Private Division)

Outstanding Broadway Production: “The Inheritance,” by Matthew Lopez

Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode: “Jonathan Van Ness: Honey, She’s An Onion With All Sorts of Layers,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)

Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Am I Next? Trans and Targeted,” “Nightline” (ABC)

Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “One-on-One with Mayor Pete Buttigieg,” “The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC)

Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Military Reports No Discharges Under Trans Ban — But Advocates

Have Doubts” by Chris Johnson, (Washington Blade)

Outstanding Magazine Article: “The Trans Obituaries Project” by Raquel Willis (Out)

Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Advocate

Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren’t Citizens” by Scott Bixby (TheDailyBeast.com)

Outstanding Digital Journalism – Video or Multimedia: “Stonewall 50: The Revolution” produced by Sekiya Dorsett, Brooke Sopelsa, Elizabeth Kuhr, Shahrzad Elghanayan, Wesley Oliver, Tim Fitzsimons, Victor Limjoco (NBC OUT and Nightly Films)

Outstanding Blog: My Fabulous Disease

Special Recognition: “Special” (Netflix)

Special Recognition: Karen Ocamb, former news editor, Los Angeles Blade

Special Recognition: Mark Segal, founder and publisher, Philadelphia Gay News

Outstanding Spanish-Language Scripted Television Series: “El Corazón Nunca Se Equivoca” (Univision)

Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism – Newsmagazine [TIE]: “Después de Stonewall” (CNN en Español) and “Orgullo,” “Despierta América” (Univision)

Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Interview: “Cómo y Cuándo Salir del Clóset,” “Un Nuevo Día” (Telemundo)

Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism Segment: “Amor Sin Condición” “Noticiero Univision 33” (Univision)

Outstanding Spanish-Language Digital Journalism Article: “Soy Gay y Estoy Orgulloso de Poder Decirlo: Jorge Luis Martínez, patinador mexicano” por Mario Villagrán (GQ Mexico)

Outstanding Spanish-Language Digital Journalism – Video or Multimedia “América a Fondo: Brigitte Baptiste, el Rostro de la (bio) Diversidad” por David Casasús (EFE)

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