The LGBTQ community followed up its strong year of representation in film and TV with a number of Golden Globe nominations on Thursday night.
Ryan Murphy’s shows boasted a particularly healthy crop of both LGBTQ actors and characters earning nods. His FX show “Pose,” which highlights New York’s ball culture in the late 1980s, yielded two nominations, while “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” another FX show with LGBTQ characters, ended up with four nominations.
Billy Porter landed a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama for his role in “Pose” as Pray Tell, who served as the emcee of the balls and offered his unwavering support to Blanca’s house, but privately struggled to face his own HIV diagnosis.
Ben Whishaw garnered a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for his performance in “A Very English Scandal.”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” wound up with nominations for Best Motion Picture — Drama and Rami Malek earned a nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for his portrayal of its bisexual protagonist Freddie Mercury.
Sandra Oh played a bisexual spy in “Killing Eve,” leading to a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, and the 18th-century-based show “The Favourite” — which featured lesbians — earned a nomination for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.
The screenplay adaptation of Lee Israel’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” featuring a lesbian and a gay character, ended up with a nomination for Best Actress — Motion Picture — Drama (Melissa McCarthy) and Best Supporting Actor — Motion Picture (Richard E. Grant).
Ally Debra Messing landed her seventh Golden Globe nomination in her role as Grace in “Will and Grace,” which has a longstanding history of gay characters dating back to the 1990s when LGBTQ representation was far more rare than it is today.
Mahershala Ali, who starred in “Moonlight,” was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture after he played a gay pianist in “Green Book.”
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, was nominated for Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture. Regina King was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in that film.
“Girl,” a story of a 15-year-old transgender girl, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film despite drawing significant criticism from the transgender community. Critic Oliver Whitney slammed it for having “a disturbing fascination with trans bodies” and ultimately concluded that “it’s the most dangerous movie about trans characters in years.”
Lucas Hedges earned a Best Actor nomination for his role in the gay conversion therapy film “Boy Erased,” while Troye Sivan’s song for the film, “Revelation,” was also nominated.
The Golden Globes Awards will take place on January 6 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.
