Arts & Entertainment
GLAAD Media Awards announces 2019 nominees
‘Pose,’ The Favorite,’ ‘Love, Simon’ and more honored for LGBT-inclusivity
The 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards were announced on Friday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah by “Pose” star
This year GLAAD expanded its nominations in the Outstanding Film – Limited Release category from five nominees to 10. The nominees include “The Favourite,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Boy Erased and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” among others. As for the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category, the teen rom-com “Love, Simon” and Marvel superhero sequel “Deadpool 2” were among the nominees.
For television, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon collectively received the most nominations with 11.
FX’s “Pose,” which made history as the first scripted television series to include a majority transgender cast, was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series along with “Supergirl” (CW), “Billions” (Showtime) and more.
This year GLAAD also opened up the awards to recognize LGBT-inclusive content in video games as well.
“GLAAD has always leveraged diverse forms of media to share LGBTQ stories which change hearts and minds, and as the video game industry reaches new heights of popularity and influence, it is imperative that LGBTQ people and issues are included in fair and accurate ways,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO, said in a statement.
In GLAAD’s music categories, J
“The images and stories recognized by the GLAAD Media Awards over the past 30 years raised the bar for LGBTQ inclusion in the media industry and changed the hearts and minds of countless audience members around the world,” Ellis said. “This year’s nominees are changing the game by showcasing diverse races, genders, religions, ages, geographies, and genres in ways that challenge misconceptions and inspire LGBTQ acceptance. The 30th anniversary of the GLAAD Media Awards will honor these groundbreaking new LGBTQ stories while remembering the astounding positive cultural change that LGBTQ media representations have achieved.”
The GLAAD Media Awards will be held in a bi-coastal celebration on Thursday, March 28 in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton and Saturday, May 4 in New York City at the Hilton Midtown.
Check out the list of nominees below.
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
“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)*
“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)
*Note: Brooklyn Nine-Nine now airs on 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” (
“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)
Outstanding Music Artist
Brandi Carlile, “By the Way, I Forgive You” (Low Country Sound/Elektra)
Brockhampton, “Iridescence” (RCA)
Christine and the Queens, “Chris” (
Hayley Kiyoko, “Expectations” (Atlantic)
Janelle Monáe, “Dirty Computer” (Bad Boy Records)
Kim Petras, “Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1” (BunHead)
Shea Diamond, “Seen It All” (Asylum Worldwide)
Sophie, “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” (Future Classics)
Troye Sivan, “Bloom” (Capitol Records)
Years & Years, “Palo Santo” (Polydor)
Outstanding Comic Book
“Batwoman,” written by Marguerite Bennett, K. Perkins (DC Comics)
“Bingo Love,” written by Tee Franklin (Image Comics)
“Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles,” written by Mark Russell (DC Comics)
“Fence,” written by C.S. Pacat (BOOM! Studios)
“Iceman,” written by Sina Grace (Marvel Comics)
“Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass,” written by Lilah Sturges (BOOM! Studios)
“Oh S#!t It’s Kim & Kim,” written by Magdalene Visaggio (Black Mask Comics)
“Runaways,” written by Rainbow Rowell (Marvel Comics)
“Star Wars: Doctor Aphra,” written by Kieron Gillen, Simon Spurrier (Marvel Comics)
“Strangers in Paradise XXV,” written by Terry Moore (Abstract Studio)
Outstanding Video Game
“Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey” (Ubisoft)
“The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset” (Bethesda Softworks)
“Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire” (ArenaNet)
“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire” (Versus Evil)
“The Sims Mobile” (Electronic Arts)
Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode
“Mike Pence and ‘A Day in the Life of Marlon
“NRA Problems, Chicken Bone Problems, Birmingham Problems” -“Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas “(HBO)
“Trans Rights Under Attack” -“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” (TBS)
“Troye Sivan Hopes ‘Boy Erased’ Reaches All Parents”- “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
“Valedictorian Seth Owen”-“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (syndicated)
Outstanding TV
“Conversion Therapy: God Only Knows” -“CBS Sunday Morning” (CBS)
“Gender: The Space Between”- “CBS News” (CBS)
“Legacy of Hope” -“Nightline” (ABC)
“Respect” -“SC Featured” (ESPN)
“South Texas Pride” [series]- “KSAT News” (KSAT-TV [San Antonio, Texas])
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment
“Historic Number of LGBTQ Candidates on Ballots This Year”- “NBC Nightly News” (NBC)
“Mississippi Town Denies Pride Parade”- “Vice News Tonight” (HBO)
“Olympian Adam Rippon”- “New Day” (CNN)
“Same-sex Couple Reacts to Supreme Court Ruling” -“CNN Tonight with Don Lemon” (CNN)
“Trump: ‘Looking Very Seriously’ at Changing Transgender Definition” -“Velshi & Ruhle” (MSNBC)
Outstanding Newspaper Article
“He Took a Drug to Prevent AIDS. Then He Couldn’t Get Disability Insurance.” by Donald G. McNeil Jr. (The New York Times)
“LGBTQ Parents Challenge Stereotypes in China” by Sue-Lin Wong, Jason Lee (Reuters)
“‘More Than Fear’: Brazil’s LGBT Community Dreads Looming Bolsonaro Presidency” by Marina Lopes (The Washington Post)
“Pistons’ Reggie Bullock to Transgender Community: ‘I see y’all as people that I love'” by Malika Andrews (Chicago Tribune)
“Transgender Students Asked Betsy DeVos for Help. Here’s What Happened.” by Caitlin Emma (Politico)
Outstanding Magazine Article
“21 Transgender Stars, Creators Sound Off on Hollywood: ‘I Want to Portray These Characters, and I’m Ready'” by Chris Gardner, Rebecca Sun, Lindsay Weinberg, Joelle Goldstein, Bryan White (The Hollywood Reporter)
“Can a Transgender Woman Get Justice in Texas?” by Nate Blakeslee (Texas Monthly)
“Ex-Scientologist Michelle LeClair Says Church Officials Humiliated Her After She Came Out as Gay” by Johnny Dodd, Tierney McAfee (People)
“Lena Waithe is Changing the Game” by Jacqueline Woodson (Vanity Fair)
“They are the Champions” by Katie Barnes (ESPN The Magazine)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage
Billboard
Ebony
Entertainment Weekly
GQ
Variety
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article
“Across U.S., LGBTQ Christians Try to Change Hearts and Minds From the Pews” by Julie Compton (NBCNews.com)
“Bermuda Same-sex Marriage Ban Means Trouble for Tourism and Cruise Ships” by Ryan Ruggiero (CNBC.com)
“Deadnamed” by Lucas Waldron, Ken Schwencke (ProPublica.org)
“LGBTQ Caravan Migrants Marry While Waiting for Asylum in Tijuana” by Sarah Kinosian (INTOmore.com)
“Workplaces Need to Prepare for the Non-Binary Future” by Samantha Allen (TheDailyBeast.com)
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Video or Multimedia
“I Was Jailed for Raising the Pride Flag in Egypt” by Amro Helmy (Buzzfeed Video)
“The Latinx Drag Queens Spearheading HIV Activism on the Border” by Paola Ramos (Vice.com)
“March for Our Lives and LGBT activism: ‘They’re definitely linked for me,’ says Emma González” by Beth Greenfield (Yahoo! Lifestyle)
“Marielle and Monica: The LGBT Activists Resisting Bolsonaro’s Brazil” by Fabio Erdos, Marina Costa, Charlie Phillips, Jacqueline Edenbrow (TheGuardian.com)
“Trans Model Aaron Philip is Making a Space for Disabilities on the Runway” (NowThis)
Outstanding Blog
Gays With Kids
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
My Fabulous Disease
Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
TransGriot
Special Recognition
“Nanette” (Netflix)
“TransMilitary” (Logo)
SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES
Outstanding Scripted Television Series (Spanish-Language)
“Élite” (Netflix)
“Mi familia perfecta” (Telemundo)
“Mi marido tiene más familia” (Univision)
“Papá a toda madre” (Univision)
Outstanding TV
“Denuncian trabas migratorias contra la comunidad transgénero”- “Un Nuevo Dia” (Telemundo)
“Entrevista con Luis Sandoval para National Coming Out Day” -“Despierta América” (Univision)
“No es fácil en EEUU ser un gay latino” -“Noticias Telemundo Mediodía” (Telemundo)
“La primera escuela para niños transgénero de Chile” -“Nuestro Mundo” (CNN en Español)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment (Spanish-Language)
“Entrevista con Pat ‘Cacahuate’ Manuel”- “NoticiasYa Tampa Bay” (Univision)
“LAFC Pride Republic” -“Noticiero Univision Los Ángeles” (Univision)
“Madre hispana lucha contra un agresivo cáncer seno” -“Noticias Univision Arizona” (Univision)
“Primera Pareja Gay en Casarse en un Consulado Mexicano”- “Noticias Telemundo Mediodía” (Telemundo)
“Transpesina”- “Univision 21 Fresno” (Univision)
Outstanding Digital Journalism (Spanish-Language)
“Apoyo y recursos para jóvenes LGBTQ y sus familias” por Virginia Gaglianone (LaOpinion.com)
“Así pinta la televisión hispana a los personajes LGBTQ, una representación preocupante” por Daniel Shoer Roth (ElNuevoHerald.com)
“Dallas: Para jóvenes LGBT con DACA, la lucha ha sido salir de dos clósets” por Jenny Manrique (AlDiaDallas.com)
“De la censura a la celebración: la historia de una exposición queer en Brasil” por Ernesto Londoño (NewYorkTimes.com/es)
“Desaliento y miedo en medio de celebración del Orgullo LGBT en NYC” por José Martínez (ElDiarioNY.com)
Special Recognition (Spanish-Language)
“House of Mamis” (INTOmore.com)
Theater
Swing actor Thomas Netter covers five principal parts in ‘Clue’
Unique role in National Theatre production requires lots of memorization
‘Clue: On Stage’
Jan. 27-Feb. 1
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
thenationaldc.com
Out actor Thomas Netter has been touring with “Clue” since it opened in Rochester, New York, in late October, and he’s soon settling into a week-long run at D.C.’s National Theatre.
Adapted by Sandy Rustin from the same-titled 1985 campy cult film, which in turn took its inspiration from the popular board game, “Clue” brings all the murder mystery mayhem to stage.
It’s 1954, the height of the Red Scare, and a half dozen shady characters are summoned to an isolated mansion by a blackmailer named Mr. Boddy where things go awry fairly fast. A fast-moving homage to the drawing room whodunit genre with lots of wordplay, slapstick, and farce, “Clue” gives the comedic actors a lot to do and the audience much to laugh at.
When Netter tells friends that he’s touring in “Clue,” they inevitably ask “Who are you playing and when can we see you in it?” His reply isn’t straightforward.
The New York-based actor explains, “In this production, I’m a swing. I never know who’ll I play or when I’ll go on. Almost at any time I can be called on to play a different part. I cover five roles, almost all of the men in the show.”
Unlike an understudy who typically learns one principal or supporting role and performs in the ensemble nightly, a swing learns any number of parts and waits quietly offstage throughout every performance just in case.
With 80 minutes of uninterrupted quick, clipped talk “Clue” can be tough for a swing. Still, Netter, 28, adds, “I’m loving it, and I’m working with a great cast. There’s no sort of “All About Eve” dynamic going on here.”
WASHINGTON BLADE: Learning multiple tracks has got to be terrifying.
THOMAS NETTER: Well, there certainly was a learning curve for me. I’ve understudied roles in musicals but I’ve never covered five principal parts in a play, and the sheer amount of memorization was daunting.
As soon as I got the script, I started learning lines character by character. I transformed my living room into the mansion’s study and hallway, and got on my feet as much as I could and began to get the parts into my body.
BLADE: During the tour, have you been called on to perform much?
NETTER: Luckily, everyone has been healthy. But I was called on in Pittsburgh where I did Wadsworth, the butler, and the following day did the cop speaking to the character that I was playing the day before.
BLADE: Do you dread getting that call?
NETTER: Can’t say I dread it, but there is that little bit of stage fright involved. Coming in, my goal was to know the tracks. After I’d done my homework and released myself from nervous energy, I could go out and perform and have fun. After all, I love to act.
“Clue” is an opportunity for me to live in the heads of five totally different archetype characters. As an actor that part is very exciting. In this comedy, depending on the part, some nights it’s kill and other nights be killed.
BLADE: Aside from the occasional nerves, would you swing again?
NETTER: Oh yeah, I feel I’m living out the dream of the little gay boy I once was. Traveling around getting a beat on different communities. If there’s a gay bar, I’m stopping by and meeting interesting and cool people.
BLADE: Speaking of that little gay boy, what drew him to theater?
NETTER: Grandma and mom were big movie musical fans, show likes “Singing in the Rain,” “Meet Me in St. Louis.” I have memories of my grandma dancing me around the house to “Shall We Dance?” from the “King and I” She put me in tap class at age four.
BLADE: What are your career highlights to date?
NETTER: Studying the Meisner techniqueat New York’sNeighborhood Playhouse for two years was definitely a highlight. Favorite parts would include the D’Ysquith family [all eight murder victims] in “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder,” and the monstrous Miss Trunchbull in “Matilda.”
BLADE: And looking forward?
NETTER: I’d really like the chance to play Finch or Frump in Frank Loesser’s musical comedy “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
BLADE: In the meantime, you can find Netter backstage at the National waiting to hear those exhilarating words “You’re on!”
Movies
A ‘Battle’ we can’t avoid
Critical darling is part action thriller, part political allegory, part satire
When Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” debuted on American movie screens last September, it had a lot of things going for it: an acclaimed Hollywood auteur working with a cast that included three Oscar-winning actors, on an ambitious blockbuster with his biggest budget to date, and a $70 million advertising campaign to draw in the crowds. It was even released in IMAX.
It was still a box office disappointment, failing to achieve its “break-even” threshold before making the jump from big screen to small via VOD rentals and streaming on HBO Max. Whatever the reason – an ambivalence toward its stars, a lack of clarity around what it was about, divisive pushback from both progressive and conservative camps over perceived messaging, or a general sense of fatigue over real-world events that had pushed potential moviegoers to their saturation point for politically charged material – audiences failed to show up for it.
The story did not end there, of course; most critics, unconcerned with box office receipts, embraced Anderson’s grand-scale opus, and it’s now a top contender in this year’s awards race, already securing top prizes at the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Awards, nominated for a record number of SAG’s Actor Awards, and almost certain to be a front runner in multiple categories at the Academy Awards on March 15.
For cinema buffs who care about such things, that means the time has come: get over all those misgivings and hesitations, whatever reasons might be behind them, and see for yourself why it’s at the top of so many “Best Of” lists.
Adapted by Anderson from the 1990 Thomas Pynchon novel “Vineland,” “One Battle” is part action thriller, part political allegory, part jet-black satire, and – as the first feature film shot primarily in the “VistaVision” format since the early 1960s – all gloriously cinematic. It unspools a near-mythic saga of oppression, resistance, and family bonds, set in an authoritarian America of unspecified date, in which a former revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) is attempting to raise his teenage daughter (Chase Infiniti) under the radar after her mother (Teyana Taylor) betrayed the movement and fled the country. Now living under a fake identity and consumed by paranoia and a weed habit, he has grown soft and unprepared when a corrupt military officer (Sean Penn) – who may be his daughter’s real biological father – tracks them down and apprehends her. Determined to rescue her, he reconnects with his old revolutionary network and enlists the aid of her karate teacher (Benicio Del Toro), embarking on a desperate rescue mission while her captor plots to erase all traces of his former “indiscretion” with her mother.
It’s a plot straight out of a mainstream action melodrama, top-heavy with opportunities for old-school action, sensationalistic violence, and epic car chases (all of which it delivers), but in the hands of Anderson – whose sensibilities always strike a provocative balance between introspection, nostalgia, and a sense of apt-but-irreverent destiny – it becomes much more intriguing than the generic tropes with which he invokes to cover his own absurdist leanings.
Indeed, it’s that absurdity which infuses “One Battle” with a bemusedly observational tone and emerges to distinguish it from the “action movie” format it uses to relay its narrative. From DiCaprio (whose performance highlights his subtle comedic gifts as much as his “serious” acting chops) as a bathrobe-clad underdog hero with shades of The Dude from the Coen Brothers’ “The Big Liebowski,” to the uncomfortably hilarious creepy secret society of financially elite white supremacists that lurks in the margins of the action, Anderson gives us plenty of satirical fodder to chuckle about, even if we cringe as we do it; like that masterpiece of too-close-to-home political comedy, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 nuclear holocaust farce “Dr. Strangelove,” it offers us ridiculousness and buffoonery which rings so perfectly true in a terrifying reality that we can’t really laugh at it.
That, perhaps, is why Anderson’s film has had a hard time drawing viewers; though it’s based on a book from nearly four decades ago and it was conceived, written, and created well before our current political reality, the world it creates hits a little too close to home. It imagines a roughly contemporary America ruled by a draconian regime, where immigration enforcement, police, and the military all seem wrapped into one oppressive force, and where unapologetic racism dictates an entire ideology that works in the shadows to impose its twisted values on the world. When it was conceived and written, it must have felt like an exaggeration; now, watching the final product in 2026, it feels almost like an inevitability. Let’s face it, none of us wants to accept the reality of fascism imposing itself on our daily lives; a movie that forces us to confront it is, unfortunately, bound to feel like a downer. We get enough “doomscrolling” on social media; we can’t be faulted for not wanting more of it when we sit down to watch a movie.
In truth, however, “One Battle” is anything but a downer. Full of comedic flourish, it maintains a rigorous distance that makes it impossible to make snap judgments about its characters, and that makes all the difference – especially with characters like DiCaprio’s protective dad, whose behavior sometimes feels toxic from a certain point of view. And though it’s a movie which has no qualms about showing us terrifying things we would rather not see, it somehow comes off better in the end than it might have done by making everything feel safe.
“Safe” is something we are never allowed to feel in Anderson’s outlandish action adventure, even at an intellectual level; even if we can laugh at some of its over-the-top flourishes or find emotional (or ideological) satisfaction in the way things ultimately play out, we can’t walk away from it without feeling the dread that comes from recognizing the ugly truths behind its satirical absurdities. In the end, it’s all too real, too familiar, too dire for us not to be unsettled. After all, it’s only a movie, but the things it shows us are not far removed from the world outside our doors. Indeed, they’re getting closer every day.
Visually masterful, superbly performed, and flawlessly delivered by a cinematic master, it’s a movie that, like it or not, confronts us with the discomforting reality we face, and there’s nobody to save it from us but ourselves.
Sports
‘Heated Rivalry’ stars to participate in Olympic torch relay
Games to take place next month in Italy
“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics that will take place next month in Italy.
HBO Max, which distributes “Heated Rivalry” in the U.S., made the announcement on Thursday in a press release.
The games will take place in Milan and Cortina from Feb. 6-22. The HBO Max announcement did not specifically say when Williams and Storrie will participate in the torch relay.
Convert rent check into an automatic investment, Marjorie!
Swing actor Thomas Netter covers five principal parts in ‘Clue’
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A ‘Battle’ we can’t avoid
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McPike prevails in ‘firehouse’ Dem primary for Va. House of Delegates
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