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GLAAD Nominates Every Movie + TV Show With Gay Characters, Appeal, Punchlines. Except Outrage?

Glee, Modern Family, A Single Man, Taking Woodstock, Pedro and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List are all among GLAAD’s nominees for things like Outstanding Film and Outstanding Drama Series. But missing from the list — which you can see in full here — is Kirby Dick’s Outrage, arguably 2009’s most riveting gay-oriented film, which based on our knowledge, meets the criteria of GLAAD’s Oustanding Film/Limited Release category. And yet it’s not there.

Then again, GLAAD is about positive representations of gays in the media, and Outrage was, by its very definition, about portraying gay politicians as terrible people. Which its subjects mostly are. (GLAAD is also about paying back its corporate sponsors; among them, ABC.)

But also, Outrage probably did more to encourage dialogue and debate about LGBTs today than, say, Little Ashes, which is nominated, in a cheap ploy to get Robert Pattinson to walk the red carpet at one of GLAAD’s New York, LA, or San Francisco awards show galas.


UPDATE: GLAAD responds.

The GLAAD Media Awards are about elevating and promoting the fair, accurate and inclusive stories of LGBT issues, people and allies that have increased awareness, understanding and respect for our lives and our pursuit of equality.

Outrage is a fine movie and an important one that focused attention on anti-LGBT politicians whose efforts put our community and our families in harm’s way. But the GLAAD Media Awards aren’t the Academy Awards, they are about highlighting media that move America by telling the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people – not those who run from who they are.

The decision to come out as LGBT is an extremely personal one that benefits the individual and the people who know them. While there is certainly an argument that is made for speculating on the sexual orientation of anti-LGBT politicians in an effort to hold them accountable for the harms they inflict on our community, that sort of speculation doesn’t promote awareness, understanding and respect for our lives and thus does not fit the criteria for the GLAAD Media Awards.

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