LGBTQ+ Stories Win Big at SAG Awards

The 29^th Annual SAG Awards celebrated LGBTQ-inclusive movies and TV shows including Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale, The White Lotus, Hacks, and Abbott Elementary.

During this year’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, Everything Everywhere All At Once came out on top, winning all four of the awards it was nominated for. While other LGBTQ-inclusive films and movies were also honored, no individual awards were presented to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In fact, one of the only LGBTQ+ people to receive an individual nomination was Niecy Nash-Betts. Though she did not win the award, she was featured in SAG’s annual “I Am An Actor” opening segment, where she shared her early memories of wanting to be “Black, fabulous and on TV.”

Over the course of the evening, many LGBTQ-inclusive television shows and films were honored. Jean Smart won for her role as Deborah Vance in the queer comedy, Hacks. Gay icon Jennifer Coolidge continued her winning streak with a win for The White Lotus, which also won for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Queer-inclusive Abbott Elementary took home the trophy for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series. And Brendan Fraser won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of an overweight gay man in The Whale.

Notable LGBTQ+ allies were also honored throughout the evening, including Sally Field, who earned SAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Field, who has always been vocally supportive of her gay son, played the mother of a gay son on the TV show Brothers and Sisters and recently played a mom who supports her gay son in Spoiler Alert. Likewise, Jamie Lee Curtis, who has spoken about her transgender daughter, took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

But that was only the first of four awards that Everything Everywhere All At Once earned at the SAG Awards. Ke Huy Quan won for Outstanding Supporting Actor, and became the first Asian male to win an individual film acting award at the SAG Awards. Michelle Yeoh won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her portrayal of Evelyn Quan Wang, whose daughter in the film is queer, and made history as the first Asian person to win best actress in a film. And the entire ensemble of the film won for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Yeoh’s acceptance speech highlighted the importance of diverse representation in the media.

“This is for every little girl that looks like me. . . . Thank you for giving me a seat at the table because so many of us need this," Yeoh said. "We want to be seen. We want to be heard. And tonight, you have shown us that it is possible.”