The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation held their annual Media Awards ceremony last night (virtually, of course) to celebrate the fiction and nonfiction that best represents the LGBTQ community. While She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was probably a lock to win Outstanding Kids & Family Programming, Star Trek: Discovery also snagged the Best Drama Series award.
Discovery’s main LGBTQ couple is, of course, Lt. Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), who are the first openly gay characters in Star Trek’s long history. But the latest season made history for Star Trek in adding its first non-binary actor Blu del Barrio, who plays human/joined Trill hybrid Adira, and its first openly trans actor Ian Alexander, as playing Adira’s former partner Grey. The characters also mark the first explicitly non-binary and trans characters in the franchise’s 55-year history.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, of course, is renowned for its representation of LGBTQ characters. Noelle Stevenson’s rebooted ‘80s hero was not only a lesbian herself, but there were several lesbian couples across the show’s cast, as well as several bisexual couples, one bisexual thruple, a trans character, and a non-binary character in fan-favourite Double Trouble, voiced by the non-binary actor Jacob Tobia. She-Ra shares the award with First Day, an Australian kids’ series about a young trans girl as she enters middle school.
They weren’t the only notably nerdy winners at the awards last night. Marvel won Oustanding Comic Book for their Empyre series, along with its tie-ins Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling and Empyre: Aftermath Avengers. The series was mostly about a war between the intergalactic Kree/Skrull empires and the sinster Cotati, but it drew praise for its focus on the relationship — and marriage — between Young Avengers Hulking and Wiccan. Finally, the hit games The Last of Us II and Tell Me Why — which both featured prominent queer and trans characters in the main cast — both won Outstanding Video Game.
Head to Deadline if you want to see the full list of winners. And go watch Best Comedy Series Schitt’s Creek if you haven’t. You won’t be disappointed.