GLAAD: 2018 Emmy nominations a “milestone moment for LGBTQ inclusion”
Queer Eye, Drag Race, Handmaid's Tale, The Assassination of Gianni Versace and more!
GLAAD has praised the 70th Annual Emmy Awards for an “outstanding field of LGBTQ nominees,” with LGBTQ artists nominated across multiple genres and categories.
The nominations, announced yesterday, included everything from reality shows like Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race, to individual achievement such as Ricky Martin in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and Samira Wiley in The Handmaid’s Tale.
“Today’s list of Emmy nominees is a milestone moment for LGBTQ inclusion on television,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “With a surge of out actors and creators nominated alongside LGBTQ-inclusive scripted programming and LGBTQ-focused shows like Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Television Academy is finally reflecting how audiences and critics embrace diverse LGBTQ images on television.
“Emmy voters today sent a clear message of inclusion and acceptance which should be a signal for Hollywood to continue to tell powerful and impactful LGBTQ stories.”
Leading the LGBTQ nominations was Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, a limited series dramatizing the events surrounding gay spree killer Andrew Cunanan’s murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace. In addition to a nod for Limited Series, Ricky Martin picked up a nomination for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, while Darren Criss was nominated for Best Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal of Cunanan. In addition, Judith Light, Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez and Finn Wittrock all picked up acting nods for their roles in the series.
Elsewhere, a number of out LGBTQ actors picked up nominations, including: Lily Tomlin for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Grace & Frankie, marking her 25th Emmy nomination; Tituss Burgess for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Samira Wiley for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for The Handmaid’s Tale; Sarah Paulson for Lead Actress in a Limited Series for American Horror Story: Cult; and Kate McKinnon for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live. Cherry Jones (The Handmaid’s Tale), Jane Lynch (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Wanda Sykes (black-ish) also picked up nominations.
Reality TV offered a number of LGBTQ nominations, including RuPaul’s Drag Race for Reality-Competition, Drag Race: Untucked for Unstructured Reality, and Queer Eye for Structured Reality. Project Runway‘s Tim Gunn picked up a nod for Reality Host, as did RuPaul, Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen’s Game of Games), and Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night). This meant that four of the five nominations in this category went to LGBTQ people.
And speaking of Queer Eye, Jonathan Van Ness picked up a nomination, but not for the show that made him a global meme sensation. Can you believe? Instead, he was nominated in Outstanding Short Form Variety Series as an executive producer for Gay of Thrones, which he also hosts.
For a full list of LGBTQ nominees, visit GLAAD here. The 70th Annual Emmy Awards will air September 17 on NBC.
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