THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Two women are among the contenders for best director in historic dual noms for women: Greta Gerwig, for Barbie, and Celine Song, for Past Lives.

The lineup includes 25 returning categories, plus two new ones: Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement (CBOA) in Motion Pictures. CBOA recognizes movies that earned $150 million or more at the box office, or equivalent viewing numbers in streaming. The eight nominees in that category—including Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour, John Wick: Chapter 4 and Barbie, among others—have earned a total of $6 billion.

LGBTQ+ nominees were few and far between, at least regarding films themselves. The movie Maestro—about the life of LGBTQ+ composer Leonard Bernstein—was nominated for Best Motion-Drama. It will compete against Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, Past Lives and The Zone of Interest.

Annette Bening was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama for her role as lesbian swimmer Diana Nyad in Nyad; out actor Jodie Foster received a bid for a supporting role. And former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino received a nod for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy for portraying Celie, a lesbian character, in The Color Purple musical.

The Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama category has more of an LGBTQ+ presence: Out actors Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) and Colman Domingo (Rustin) received nods in addition to actor Bradley Cooper, who plays Bernstein in Maestro. Barry Keoghan (who has a homoerotic relationship with Jacob Elordi) was nominated for Saltburn.

In the realm of TV, Fellow Travelers—which stars openly gay actors Matt Bomer (nominated) and Jonathan Bailey—was nominated for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television. Nonbinary actor Bella Ramsey was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series-Drama for their role in The Last of Us. In addition, Oscar winner Rachel Weisz received a nod for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television for her dual lead queer roles in Dead Ringers.

Lastly, out lesbian Wanda Sykes was nominated for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television for Wanda Sykes: I'm an Entertainer.

Actor/comedian Cedric "The Entertainer" and actor Wilmer Valderrama presented the nominees. The 81st annual Golden Globe Awards will air Jan. 7, 2024.

—Andrew Davis