The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony took place on Sept. 15, and the queer community garnered many awards—led by people such as actress/director/producer Jodie Foster and producer Greg Berlanti.
Foster, a two-time Oscar winner, won her first Emmy when she took best actress in a limited series for her role in True Detective: Night Country. Berlanti—who has been involved in shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Batwoman and the CW’s “Arrowverse” shows—was honored with the Governor’s Award in recognition for his work depicting underrepresented communities on screen across his nearly 25-year-long career, The Washington Blade noted.
The Netflix drama Baby Reindeer—bisexual actor/writer Richard Gadd’s autobiographical miniseries about his experiences with same-sex sexual assault and a female stalker—won multiple awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while Gadd took home awards for writing and lead actor; co-star Jessica Gunning won for supporting actress.
In addition, British actress Michaela Coel, who identifies as aromantic, won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series on the show Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Traitors, hosted by bisexual actor Alan Cumming, won for Outstanding Competition Program, beating RuPaul’s Drag Race, among others; and Cumming won for outstanding host.
Also, at the Creative Emmys the previous weekend, Benj Pasek, who is openly gay, together with straight songwriting partner Justin Paul, became the 20th and 21st people to achieve EGOT status—winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony—with their win for Best Original Song for “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It” from the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.
Overall, the series Shogun set a record by snaring 18 awards (out of 25 nominations, including with the Creative Arts Emmys) while Hacks (which features Jean Smart and bi actress Hannah Einbinder) upset The Bear for best comedy. The Bear, set and filmed in Chicago, still won four trophies. Smart—who has starred on such shows as Designing Women—won her third best actress in a comedy award; queer actress Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) was among those who lost to Smart. In winning for outstanding drama series, Shogun edged shows such as The Gilded Age, The Crown and 3 Body Problem.
In addition, openly gay actor Dan Levy co-hosted the ceremony with his father, famed actor Eugene Levy.