Queering the Oscars
Put on your ruby slippers and head over to Metro Weekly as we strut down the red carpet and ask what queerness means for Oscars voters past and present.
With the arts and the LGBTQ+ community under a prolonged political attack from far-right politicians, the 2025 Academy Awards offers a number of potentially groundbreaking moments for queer representation on the screen and behind the scenes.
Seven LGBTQ+ individuals number among the night's many nominees, and Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Colman Domingo could all make history as the first person to accept an acting Oscar for a leading performance while being verifiably out in a public-facing capacity. But nominations like these highlight long-standing challenges in LGBTQ+ representation on the red carpet. For every closet door blown open by trailblazing queer artists, many others stay firmly shut.
For Metro Weekly, Washington's LGBTQ weekly, I wrote about the Oscars' complicated relationship with queer creatives and narratives past and present. I hope you'll click over and read more about what it means to be queer at the Oscars.
Until next time, I'll see you at the movies,
PT
🤔 What do you think? Join the conversation on Bluesky or Letterboxd, or send me an email at paul@howtoreadmovies.com!
