THE QUEERTIES 2015

And The Winners Of The 2015 Queerties Awards Are…

We picked the nominees. You picked the winners. Now, it’s time to announce who you chose.

But we’re not finished yet!

Now that we’ve narrowed it down, it’s time to vote for the 2015 Queerties Person Of The Year, and, once again, we need your help in deciding who that should be.

Scroll down to see the winners of the 2015 Queerties Awards, then cast your vote for the 2015 Queerties Person Of The Year…

Most-Loved YouTuber

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Tyler Oakley

While Oakley has been producing YouTube videos since 2007, he’s still only 26 and is a role model. In between the irreverent pop culture and silliness asides, Tyler has tackled issues like suicide prevention and healthcare. With over seven million subscribers and now a 2015 Queerties Award under his belt, that’s quite the platform for positivity.

Every Day Hero

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Spencer Stone

This 23-year-old U.S. airman received worldwide attention, the Purple Heart, and a promotion in August after dismantling a terrorist attack on a French train, only to be repeatedly stabbed in the back with a box-cutter outside a gay bar in Sacramento two months later. He suffered wounds to his heart and liver, as well as a collapsed lung. Luckily, he pulled through. We don’t know Spencer’s sexual orientation–a girl can certainly dream–but anyone who can fight off terrorists on a French train and then thugs on the street outside a gay bar, in the same year, deserves commendation. We’re glad ya’ll think so, too.

Top Politico

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President Barack Obama

OK, OK, there’s no denying that he was late to the party, particularly with that patently fake “evolution” on gay marriage as a cover. But since then Obama has made up for his heel-dragging with a vengeance. He has aggressively supported marriage equality, ensuring that marriage rights seep into every corner of the federal bureaucracy, from the IRS for immigration. He issued an executive order banning LGBT workplace discrimination by federal contractors. He navigated the rocky waters of the Pentagon to ensure the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and told military leaders who didn’t like it that they could take a hike. 

Biggest Douche

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Kim Davis

Surprised? Us neither! The thrice-divorced, born again county clerk from Kentucky made national headlines when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite multiple court orders demanding she do so. She got paid to go to jail, rubbed elbows with 2016 presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz on television, hit the media circuit, got a private armed security detail, and finagled a meeting with the pope, all the while continuing to collect her $80,000 taxpayer-funded salary and proclaiming she’s not a homophobe because she has gay friends.

Top Business Leader

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Tim Cook

Apple, if you haven’t heard, is the world’s most valuable brand, according to Forbes. And right there at the top of the pyramid is Tim Cook, who described his reasoning for coming out as, “kids are getting bullied in school, kids were getting discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents…I needed to do something.” He’s putting his company where is mouth is: Apple played a key role killing antigay bills in Arizona and Indiana. With big business controlling the purse strings of the Republican Party these days, the road to consensus on equality may lie in part in corporate America, as distasteful as that is.

Legal Eagle

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Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

Five judges constitute a majority on the Supreme Court, but one stands out: Anthony Kennedy. The Reagan-appointed justice has become the most foreceful advocate for LGBT rights on the bench, taking the lead on opinions striking down sodomy laws, anti-gay ballot measures and, most notably, bans on marriage equality. He’s done so by using language that goes well beyond legal reasoning to recognize the validity and even integrity of same-sex relationships–and their children as well. He’s become a kind of poet laureate of same- love, with such eloquent musings in his rulings such as this: “There is dignity in the bond between two men or two women who seek to marry and in their autonomy to make such profound choices.” Kennedy’s legal mentor was a gay man who clearly had a profound impact on his student. Would we have been quite as successful if someone else held Kennedy’s spot on the bench? Maybe. But we would never have had the same affirmations of the respect that we deserve as American citizens if it weren’t for Kennedy.

Top Jock

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Gus Kenworthy

In a move that made gay hearts flutter everywhere, Gus Kenworthy, an Olympic freeskiing champion who garnered worldwide fame when he helped find homes for stray dogs while competing in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, told the world his truth in an ESPN magazine interview. “In skiing, there’s such an alpha male thing about pulling the hottest chicks,” Gus told the mag. “I know hooking up with hot girls doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world. But I literally would sleep with a girl and then cry about it afterward. I’m like, ‘What am I doing? I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I don’t want to make skiing less cool. I hear the snowboarders call us ‘skier fags.’ And it’s frustrating because I’m literally going to live up to that stereotype.” Perhaps, but gay fans everywhere think he snagged the best prize of all.

Favorite Entertainer

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Nick Jonas

The former purity ring-wearing boy bander went solo, might have hooked up with a guy or two, played gay, often-nude characters in his series Kingdom and Scream Queens, performed in gay bars,professed his love for queer fans, but really got us going with his sexy photo shoots.

Congrats to all the Queerties winners! Now, vote for the 2015 Queerties Person Of The Year in the poll below. We’ll announce the winners soon.


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