Last night, the Television Academy handed out its 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, an occasion that brought out TV’s best, looking their best—so many white tuxes after Labor Day! And this year’s nominations included an impressive amount of LGBTQ representation. As the Los Angeles Blade reported, 50 percent of the Emmy nominees in the best drama series category, 25 percent of the best comedy noms, and 60 percent of the best limited series nominees featured LGBTQ characters or plot lines.
HBO’s surprise hit series The White Lotus was among the evening’s biggest winners. Adding to the five trophies the show already won during the two-night Creative Arts Emmys presentations on September 3 and 4, The White Lotus picked up another five awards. Bisexual series creator Mike White won Emmys in both the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series categories. Out actor Murray Bartlett won his first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his role as the first season’s drug- and guest-addled resort manager.
Perennial gay-fave Jennifer Coolidge—who was up against four of her White Lotus co-stars—won her first Emmy as well for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series. And the series, which notably featured arguably the most memorable moment of on-screen gay sex last year, picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, beating out Hulu’s Dopesick, The Dropout, and Pam & Tommy as well as Netflix’s Inventing Anna.
Another first-time Emmy win: Jerrod Carmichael. The comedian and actor won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his acclaimed HBO special Rothaniel, in which he publicly came out as gay.
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“I made something that was of great personal consequence to me,” he said in his acceptance speech, “and this definitely contributes to the meaning of it.”
As mentioned above, the Creative Arts Emmys were handed out over two nights on September 3 and 4, and there were some notable LGBTQ winners amongst those as well. Out actor Colman Domingo won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on HBO’s Euphoria. In the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category, the great Nathan Lane took home the award for his recurring role on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
As for reality TV, it was a particularly good night for drag. RuPaul continued his unprecedented winning streak in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program category. HBO’s We’re Here won Emmys for Outstanding Costumes and Outstanding Makeup.
HBO Max’s Legendary also picked up an Emmy for Outstanding Makeup—a juried award given to multiple winners—while Netflix’s Queer Eye won for Outstanding Structured Reality Program for the fifth year in a row.
