'Milk' 'Brothers & Sisters' and 'Ugly Betty' among GLAAD Awards nominees
The Oscar nominated "Milk" is the likely winner among the five more widely released films competing for top honors from gay and lesbian media watchdog GLAAD. The other four GLADD Awards nominees — the critically rejected remake of "Brideshead Revisited"; "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"; "RocknRolla"; and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." That Woody Allen film has about 10 seconds of gay content with the one notorious kiss between Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johannson.
By so stretching the definition of eligibility, GLAAD upped the number of nominees from last year's three — "Across the Universe," "The Jane Austen Book Club" and eventual winner "Stardust." Last year's list was most notable for the absence of "The Kite Runner" which contained a controversial rape scene.
Don't waste your time looking for performers like Oscar front-runners Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz on the list below of 125 nominees spread out across 26 English-language categories. While the GLAAD Awards hail a music artist, there are no individual prizes for acting.
Though major movies might not be featuring many gay story lines, television series, both comedy and drama, have proved far more inclusive. For the third year running, ABC leads the way with six nominations, including nods for two-time champs "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ugly Betty" as well as a third in a row nom for "Desperate Housewives." Snubbed was "Grey's Anatomy" which made headlines with the controversial axing of gay characters. Over five seasons, that medical drama has managed only one GLAAD nod -- a win for individual episode in 2007.
Also controversial was last year's win by daytime drama "As the World Turns." Not only were the program's gay lovers Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) forbidden to kiss on the CBS soap series, but they were, apparently, even forbidden to kiss at the GLAAD Awards! When journalists asked the actors to smooch for the cameras on the red carpet, Hansis and Silbermann coyly dodged the request and — adding insult to injury — would only pucker up on either side of the actress who portrays Noah's bogus green-card wife on the show. However, the show is in contention once more this year with only "All My Children" as competition.
Beyond those 125 nominees across 26 English-language categories there are an additional 60 Spanish-language nominees in 15 categories. The nominees were published, released or broadcast in 2008 and were decided on by seven nominating juries who considered nearly 1,000 media projects. And with so many kudos to hand out, GLAAD holds ceremonies in New York (March 28), Los Angeles (April 18) and San Francisco (May 9).
OUTSTANDING FILM –- WIDE RELEASE
"Brideshead Revisited"
"Milk"
"Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist "
"RocknRolla"
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
OUTSTANDING FILM -– LIMITED RELEASE
"The Edge of Heaven"
"Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom"
"Save Me"
"Shelter"
"XXY"
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
"Brothers & Sisters"
"The L Word"
"South of Nowhere"
"Torchwood"
"True Blood"
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
"Desperate Housewives"
"Greek"
"Reaper"
"Skins"
"Ugly Betty"
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EPISODE (in a series without a regular LGBT character)
"Ghostfacers," "Supernatural"
"My Maharishi is Bigger Than Your Maharishi," "Life on Mars"
"Slam," "Ghost Whisperer"
"Tandem Repeats," "ER"
"Unidentified Funk," "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
"Affinity"
"East Side Story"
"Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery"
"Oh Happy Day"
"On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery"
OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
"America's Next Top Model"
"I Want to Work for Diddy"
"Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List"
"Shirts & Skins"
"TransAmerican Love Story"
OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA
"All My Children"
"As the World Turns"
OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW EPISODE
"Don't Ruin My Gay Wedding," "The Tyra Banks Show"
"Ellen & Portia's Wedding Day," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"
"Gays in the Ghetto," "The Tyra Banks Show"
"The Pregnant Man," "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
"Transgender Triumphs," "The Tyra Banks Show"
OUTSTANDING LOS ANGELES THEATER
"As Much As You Can" by Paul Oakley Stovall
"Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead" by Bert V. Royal
"He Asked for It" by Erik Patterson
"The Little Dog Laughed" by Douglas Carter Beane
"Secrets of the Trade" by Jonathan Tolins
OUTSTANDING NEW YORK THEATER: BROADWAY & OFF–BROADWAY
"Billy Elliot: The Musical," book and lyrics by Lee Hall, music by Elton John
"Body Awareness" by Annie Baker
"Prayer for My Enemy" by Craig Lucas
"Road Show," book by John Weidman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
"Wig Out!" by Tarell Alvin McCraney
OUTSTANDING NEW YORK THEATER: OFF–OFF BROADWAY
"Arias With a Twist" by Joey Arias and Basil Twist
"The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac" by Taylor Mac
"Dina Martina: Off the Charts!" by Grady West
"Lustre, a Midwinter Trans-Fest" by Justin Bond
"Play It Cool," book by Martin Casella and Larry Dean Harris, music by Phillip Swann, lyrics by Mark Winkler
OUTSTANDING MUSIC ARTIST
Jay Brannan, "goddamned"
Hercules & Love Affair, "Hercules & Love Affair"
k.d. lang, "Watershed"
The Magnetic Fields, "Distortion"
Sam Sparro, "Sam Sparro"
OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
"Becoming" (multi-part series) Channel 3 News (WCAX-TV3 [Burlington, Vt.])
"Born in the Wrong Body: All in the Family" (MSNBC)
"Funding the Marriage War" In the Life (PBS)
"George Takei and Brad Altman" (multi-part series) "The Early Show" (CBS)
"The Whispers," "Outside the Lines" (ESPN)
OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
"Bishop in the Eye of the Storm," "Today" (NBC)
"Gay in Cuba," "The Situation Room" (CNN)
"Special Comment: Prop 8," "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" (MSNBC)
"Rick Warren: Change to Believe In?" "The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC)
"Taking to the Streets," "Good Morning America Weekend (ABC)
OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
"Gay Marriage Ruling Ended Long Journey Of Soul" by Alaine Griffin
(The Hartford Courant)
"Morehouse College Faces its Own Bias – Against Gays" by Richard Fausset
(Los Angeles Times)
"A New Wave of Gay Seminarians Prepares to Take the Pulpit" by Bradley Campbell
(City Pages [Minneapolis, Minn.])
"Owning His Gay Identity – at 15 Years Old" by Theresa Vargas (The Washington Post)
"Special Report: In Transition" by Karen Lovett and Ashley Smith (The Telegraph [Nashua, N.H.])
OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST
Alfred Doblin (The Record [Bergen, N.J.])
Michael Mayo (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Leonard Pitts, Jr. (The Miami Herald)
Deb Price (The Detroit News)
Rebecca Walsh (Salt Lake Tribune)
OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER OVERALL COVERAGE
The Denver Post
The Des Moines Register
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
The Washington Post
OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE ARTICLE
"Becoming a Black Man" by Daisy Hernández (ColorLines)
"Death on Terminal Island" by Ben Ehrenreich (Los Angeles)
"Let God Love Gene Robinson" by Andrew Corsello (GQ)
"Our Mutual Joy" by Lisa Miller (Newsweek)
"Second Nature" by Maximillian Potter (5280)
OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE OVERALL COVERAGE
The Advocate
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Entertainment Weekly
Newsweek
People
OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Do Kill" by Lennox Samuels (Newsweek.com)
"Gay Athletes are Making Their Mark" by LZ Granderson (ESPN.com)
"Gay in Wasilla" by Julie Bolcer (Advocate.com)
"Gays in Primetime" by James Hillis (AfterElton.com)
"Invisible and Overlooked" by Jessica Bennett (Newsweek.com)
OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM – MULTIMEDIA
"Excluded Gay Bishop Reacts" by Mary Jordan (WashingtonPost.com)
"Gay Seniors" (multi-part series) by Jessica Bennet, Jennifer Molina and Carl Sullivan (Newsweek.com)
"Is Gay the New Black?" by Jessica Bennet and Jennifer Molina (Newsweek.com)
OUTSTANDING COMIC BOOK
The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames (Vertigo/DC Comics)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Drew Goddard, Jeph Loeb and Joss Whedon (Dark Horse Comics)
Final Crisis: Revelations by Greg Rucka (DC Comics)
Secret Six by Gail Simone (DC Comics)
Young Avengers Presents by Ed Brubaker, Brian Reed, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Paul Cornell, Kevin Grevioux and Matt Fraction (Marvel Comics)
OUTSTANDING ADVERTISING – ELECTRONIC
"I Don't Judge" IKEA
"Logo Unbuttoned" Levi's
"Market" Chemistry.com
"We All Walk In Different Shoes – Nina Poon" Kenneth Cole
"Rugby Drinking Party" Jawbone
OUTSTANDING ADVERTISING – PRINT
"First Comes Love. Then Comes Marriage." Macy's
"Home for the Holidays" Swanson
"Rings" Paris Las Vegas
"We All Walk In Different Shoes – Nina Poon & Robert Jason" Kenneth Cole
"Will You Marry Me?" Absolut Vodka
RELATED POSTS:
GLAAD should rescind its award to 'As the World Turns' and apologize
Split reaction to GLAAD' controversial award to 'As the World Turns'
GLAAD gives CBS a kudo instead of a kiss-off
GLAAD embraces last year's champs again
Bizarre GLAAD nominations aren't very gay
Photo: Focus Features
Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.
