With the 2024 Oscars now in the rear-view mirror, you might think that awards season is officially, finally over, but you’d be wrong: there’s still the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards to celebrate, which honors the films, television shows, video games, musicians and works of journalism that offer “fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community” and issues relevant to the community.
The first batch of GLAAD Awards were handed out in Los Angeles’s Beverly Hilton on Thursday, March 14—a second ceremony will take place in New York City on May 11, honoring winners in categories like online journalism and Broadway production—and among last night’s winners were a refreshing batch of young LGBTQ+ stars, including actress-singer Reneé Rapp, the Yellowjackets crew, and the funny folks behind Bottoms.
Twenty-four-year-old Rapp—who recently reprised her Broadway role of Regina George for the Mean Girls musical remake and revealed that she added elements of her own queerness while playing the popular-girl character—won a GLAAD Award in the “Outstanding Music Artist” category for her debut album Snow Angel.
Along with calling for “an immediate ceasefire and permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” the multi-hyphenate star used her acceptance speech to remind ceremony attendees and viewers at home “to continue to advocate for yourselves, continue to advocate for your friends, your queer friends and for those who can’t advocate for themselves.”
Winning for “Outstanding Drama Series” was the Showtime thriller Yellowjackets, which follows a high school girls’ soccer team as they try to survive in the wilderness following a plane crash. The series has been a particular favorite of LGBTQ+ fans, especially for the “affirming” queer romance between Taissa and Van, played by Jasmin Savoy Brown and non-binary actor Liv Hewson. (And after that fiery finale last season, we’re expecting to see plenty more from those two in Yellowjackets Season 3!)
And on the film front, Bottoms came out on top, scooping up the award for “Outstanding Film – Wide Theatrical Release.” The raunchy LGBTQ+ comedy stars queer actress Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott as two teen girls who start a fight club to win the affections of the hot cheerleaders at their high school. Gay filmmaker Emma Seligman, who directed and co-wrote Bottoms, previously discussed wanting to punch through the teen-comedy tropes aimed at both women and queer people with the “horny” flick.
Along with those young talents, the first 2024 GLAAD Award ceremony also spotlighted long-time legends like media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who received the advocacy group’s Vanguard Award for her LGBTQ+ allyship, and actress Niecy Nash-Betts, who adorably thanked her wife Jessica Betts for making her feel “like the queer of the year” after receiving the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, presented by Sharon Stone.
Other big winners of the night included Ted Lasso, which won for “Outstanding Comedy Series”; Fellow Travelers, which took home the honor for “Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series”; the Trace Lysette-led drama Monica for “Outstanding Film – Limited Theatrical Release”; and RuPaul’s Drag Race, which was dubbed this year’s “Outstanding Reality Competition Program” and previously won in the same category back in 2010 and 2022.