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Queer nominees leave empty handed from disastrous Golden Globes

On the road toward a very ‘straight and narrow’ Oscar night?

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Matt Bomer was one of a few queer nominees but lost the Golden Globe. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

By now, even if you didn’t watch them, you probably already know that Sunday night’s presentation of the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards was pretty much a debacle.

From its tense first few minutes, when host Jo Koy (seriously, how many people had to say “no” to the job before they got to Jo Koy?) took his opening monologue rapidly past “irreverent” to “disrespectful” as his audience squirmed uncomfortably, it was clear that the evening’s attempt at a free-wheeling but good-natured roast of Hollywood disguised as an awards show was not going to go as planned. Koy’s efforts at snark were met with palpable hostility from the celebrity crowd, most of whom looked like they would rather be anywhere else but in the audience at the Beverly Hilton, and things just got worse from there.

We could go on about the lackluster, often tone-deaf writing, or the poorly conceived “stunt pairings” of stars as presenters, or the general sloppiness that made the show feel precarious from beginning to end, but fortunately, there’s no need for us to relive all that here. The reason you’re reading this (since this is the Blade, after all) is to find out about the “queer take” on the Golden Globes; unfortunately, the only one we can offer is that there really was no queer take on the Golden Globes.

Going into the ceremony, which, as always with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual awards show, bestowed the organization’s honors for both film and television, there were only a handful of out queer acting nominees. Two of these competed in a single category (Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture Drama): Colman Domingo, nominated for his star turn in the title role of “Rustin,” and Andrew Scott, who was up for his widely acclaimed performance in Andrew Haigh’s ethereal gay ghost story, “All of Us Strangers.” Both lost the award to Cillian Murphy, the star of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

The other out nominee in the film acting categories, previous four-time Golden Globe winner Jodie Foster, was competing as Best Supporting Female Actor in Any Motion Picture for her performance in the Netflix biopic “Nyad,” but she lost to Da’Vine Joy Randolph of Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.”

On the TV side, out gay performer Matt Bomer, nominated as Best Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie for Showtime’s queer historical romance “Fellow Travelers,” lost to Steven Yuen in the Netflix smash, “Beef.” Natasha Lyonne – who identifies as straight but has always been open about her bisexual attractions – was up for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series as the star of “Poker Face.” That award went instead to Ayo Edebiri of “The Bear.”

It’s true that Billie Eilish – who was nominated alongside brother Finneas O’Connell for co-writing Best Original Song nominee “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” an award that they went on to win – has identified publicly as being attracted to both males and females, something she recently reasserted in a Variety interview (before following up with an Instagram post commenting that “literally who cares” about her sexuality), so at least there was one winner from the queer community during the evening.

As for the movies and shows themselves, several of the nominated titles included queer characters and themes, with Best Picture nominees “Maestro” (about bisexual composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein) and “May December” (from pioneering “New Queer Cinema” filmmaker Todd Haynes) as the most obvious examples. Both films received multiple nods; neither walked away with a single win. In the TV division, several queer-oriented shows, from “Fellow Travelers” to “The Last of Us” to “Ted Lasso,” lost in their respective categories, and “Wanda Sykes: I’m An Entertainer,” the out lesbian comedian’s Netflix special nominated for the newly added Best Standup Performance category, lost to former Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais’ “Ricky Gervais: Apocalypse.”

There were few queer moments of note, in fact, during the event, though the presence of trans “Euphoria” star Hunter Schaefer onstage as a presenter was a welcome nod to inclusion. A more positive spin can be found by acknowledging the show of diversity – an issue around which the Golden Globes has long been deservedly criticized – among the winners. Several acting wins went to Black performers (Randolph, Edebiri) and performers of Asian descent (Yuen and “Beef” co-star Ali Wong), while Lily Gladstone became the first indigenous American performer to win a Golden Globe as Best Leading Female Actor (Motion Picture Drama) for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” (Note: Gladstone has identified as “middle-gendered” in subsequent interviews and uses she/they pronouns.) We can only be thrilled for these well-deserved wins.

Still, if the Golden Globes are – as they’ve long been considered – the official “kick-off” of Awards Season and an important (if not always accurate) indicator of the likeliest big contenders at the subsequent (and more prestigious) ceremonies to follow over the next few weeks, it looks like we might be on the road toward very “straight and narrow” Oscar night.

The complete list of nominees and winners can be found at the Golden Globes website.

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Celebrity News

John Waters released from hospital after car accident

Crash took place in Baltimore County

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John Waters (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

BY TAJI BURRIS | Baltimore filmmaker John Waters was released from the hospital Tuesday morning following a car accident.

The 78-year-old released a statement saying that although he was hurt in the Baltimore County crash, he did not sustain major injuries.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio

Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday

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Madonna performs on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on May 4, 2024. (Screen capture via Reuters YouTube)

An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.

Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s Honório Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.

Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.

“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”

The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.

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HRC releases ‘Queer Renaissance Syllabus’

Beyoncé’s hit album inspired curriculum

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Beyoncé performs at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., on Aug. 6, 2023. The Human Rights Campaign has released a curriculum that her "Renaissance" album inspired. (Washington Blade photo by Isabelle Kravis)

In a move aimed at celebrating the beauty, brilliance and resilience of the LGBTQ community, the Human Rights Campaign unveiled the “Queer Renaissance Syllabus” that Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album inspired. 

Curated by Justin Calhoun, Leslie Hall and Chauna Lawson of the HRC’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, the syllabus includes a variety of academic articles, essays, films and other media rooted in Black queer and feminist studies. Each piece is directly inspired by the tracks on Beyoncé’s Billboard 200-topping dance album, “Renaissance.”

Beyoncé’s album “Renaissance” stands as a cultural milestone, celebrating the Black queer roots of dance music while shedding light on overlooked Black queer artists. Inspired by her late-Uncle Johnny, the album not only garnered critical acclaim but also shed light on the often marginalized contributions of Black queer artists. Winning four Grammys and yielding chart-topping hits like “Break My Soul” and “Cuff It,” the album sparked discussions about economic impact and cultural representation.

Amid its success, legislative challenges arose, with Florida and Texas enacting bans on DEI initiatives in public colleges. Recognizing the album’s transformative potential, HRC developed the “Queer Renaissance Syllabus” to leverage its impact for education and activism.

Tailored for educators, youth-serving professionals, DEI practitioners, higher education leaders and admirers of Beyoncé’s artistry, the syllabus aims to encourage meaningful discussions, enrich lesson plans, and explore innovative ways to honor the vibrancy and significance of LGBTQ individuals and their culture.

With six themes anchoring the syllabus, ranging from “intersectionality and inclusivity” to “social justice and activism,” it provides a comprehensive exploration of various facets of LGBTQ experiences and expressions. Fan-favorite tracks from the album are paired with scholarly readings, offering insights into empowerment, self-acceptance and the transformative power of artistic expression. The syllabus also reinforces HRC’s efforts to highlight, amplify and re-center Black and queer voices.

By providing links to articles, books, podcasts and interviews, each associated with a song from the album, it celebrates the rich cultural heritage and contributions of the Black queer community.

The concluding section of the syllabus includes Beyoncé’s tribute to O’Shea Sibley, a young Black queer person who was murdered in Brooklyn, N.Y., last July while voguing to “Renaissance” songs at a gas station. HRC also includes a statement that condemns hate crimes.

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