Hollywood’s queerest night returned to the spotlight as the 14th Annual Queerties Awards brought LGBTQ+ creators, performers and cultural icons together at Avalon Hollywood. Determined by nearly 2 million community votes, the annual celebration recognizes the people and projects shaping queer culture across entertainment, sports, activism and digital media.
The ceremony, hosted by drag superstar Trixie Mattel, will stream March 19 on WOW Presents Plus, World of Wonder’s streaming platform.
This year’s awards spotlighted a wide range of LGBTQ+ voices, from blockbuster films and viral music moments to reality TV standouts and rising digital creators.
Jonathan Bailey Named the Year’s Biggest LGBTQ+ “Badass”
The ceremony’s highest honor, the Badass Award, went to actor Jonathan Bailey, whose performances in Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers helped cement him as one of Hollywood’s most visible queer leading men.
Bailey beat out a competitive group of nominees including Grammy winner Doechii, actor Jeff Hiller, basketball star Paige Bueckers, singer Reneé Rapp, and pop legend Ricky Martin.
The award recognizes a public figure who moved culture forward during the past year, whether through advocacy, artistry or cultural influence.
Cynthia Erivo Scores a Double Win
Few stars had a bigger night than Cynthia Erivo, who picked up two trophies for her work connected to Wicked: For Good.
Erivo won Film Performance and also claimed the Read category for her memoir Simply More. The film itself won Drama Movie, marking a strong showing for the musical adaptation in categories celebrating queer storytelling.
Lady Gaga, Conan Gray and KATSEYE Shine in Music
Music categories delivered major fan energy.
Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” took the Anthem award, beating songs by Chappell Roan, Slayyyter, Demi Lovato, Ashnikko and Ben Platt.
Meanwhile, Conan Gray earned Music Video honors for “Vodka Cranberry.”
Rising girl group KATSEYE captured Breakout Musical Artist, highlighting a new act quickly gaining attention across pop music.
TV Winners Include ‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Boots’ and ‘The Traitors’
Television categories reflected the growing number of queer-led stories across streaming platforms.
The HBO hockey romance Heated Rivalry won TV Drama, while star François Arnaud took home TV Performance.
Netflix comedy Boots earned TV Comedy, beating well-known series including Hacks and Palm Royale.
Reality competition favorite The Traitors continued its awards streak with a win for Reality TV, and contestant Ezra Sosa picked up Reality TV Star.
Special Honors Celebrate Trailblazers
Three entertainment figures received special awards recognizing their contributions to LGBTQ+ culture.
Comedy pioneer Margaret Cho received the Icon Award for a career that helped expand visibility for queer and Asian American performers.
Comedian Megan Stalter, known for Hacks and her viral digital sketches, was presented with the Vanguard Award.
Actor and writer Mae Martin accepted the Groundbreaker Award, honoring their work on projects like Feel Good and continued advocacy for nonbinary representation.
Style, Sports and Drag Highlights
Other standout winners included Sarah Paulson, who won Style Icon, and Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who took Sports Hero.
Drag categories also brought plenty of fan enthusiasm. RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Bosco won Drag Royalty, while Suzie Toot earned the fan-voted Future All-Star title.
The digital space saw Dragvestigations win Digital Series, and actor Cheyenne Jackson was crowned Insta-Follow.
Looking ahead, fans voted Red, White & Royal Wedding as the Next Big Thing they’re most excited about in 2026.
Complete List of Winners and Nominees
BADASS
Honoring the year’s top LGBTQ+ newsmakers who moved culture forward
• Doechii
• Jeff Hiller
• WINNER: Jonathan Bailey
• Onya Nurve
• Paige Bueckers
• Reneé Rapp
• Ricky Martin
• Tramell Tillman
• Ts Madison
• Vivian Jenna Wilson
DRAG ROYALTY
Celebrating drag performers with cultural impact beyond the runway
• Aja
• Anania
• WINNER: Bosco
• Brigitte Bandit
• Ginger Minj
• Gloria Groove
• Hedda Lettuce
• King Molasses
• Evah Destruction
• Utica Queen
FUTURE ALL-STAR
RuPaul’s Drag Race queens deserving of an All-Stars crown
• Jewels Sparkles
• Joella
• Kori King
• Lady Camden
• Lana Ja’Rae
• Lexi
• Plasma
• Sam Star
• WINNER: Suzie Toot
• Widow Von’Du
PODCAST
• Bad Queers with Kris Chesson & Shana Sumers
• Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang
• Outlaws with Ts Madison
• Psychobabble with Korey Kuhl & Tyler Oakley
• So True with Caleb Hearon
• Tea Time with Raven-Symoné & Miranda Maday
• That’s A Gay *ss Podcast with Eric Williams
• WINNER: The Kelly Mantle Show
• The Yestergays with Justin Sylvester & Blakely Thornton
• Therapuss with Jake Shane
TIKTOKER
• Dylan Kevitch
• Grant & Ash
• Jake Schroeder
• Johnny Sibilly
• Kendahl Landreth
• Nathan Jun
• WINNER: Niecy Nash
• Nirupam
• Tell The Bees
• The Goddess Boys
INSTA-FOLLOW
• WINNER: Cheyenne Jackson
• Hailee and Kendra
• Hunter Gallagher
• Kevin Ortega-Rojas
• Laron Best
• Melissa King
• Stacey Cay
• Star Amerasu
• Studbudz
• Uly Morazan
COMIC
• WINNER: Caleb Hearon
• Fortune Feimster
• Hannah Einbinder
• James Tom
• Jay Jurden
• Robby Hoffman
• Paris Sashay
• Ren Q. Dawe
• Tig Notaro
• Wally Baram
THEATER
• Bat Boy: The Musical
• Clarkston
• Color Theories by Julio Torres
• Ginger Twinsies
• Heaux Church
• Messy White Gays
• WINNER: Oh Mary!
• Practice
• Prince F****t
• Saturday Church
BREAKOUT MUSICAL ARTIST
• Adam Mac
• Amaarae
• Bentley Robles
• Cain Culto
• CMAT
• Eli
• Gigi Perez
• WINNER: KATSEYE
• Lola Young
• RaiNao
MUSIC VIDEO
• “Best Guess” – Lucy Dacus
• “Big Ol’ Hammer” – G Flip
• “Boy Crazy” – Kesha
• “Boys” – Frankie Grande
• “Crème Brulée” – David Archuleta
• “Full Time Papi” – Guitarricadelafuente
• “God’s A Raver” – Nemo
• “Good Boy” – Jim Verraros
• “Out Of Body” – Khalid
• WINNER: “Vodka Cranberry” – Conan Gray
ANTHEM
• WINNER: “Abracadabra” – Lady Gaga
• “BEAT UP CHANEL$” – Slayyyter
• “Diet Pepsi” – Ben Platt
• “Golden” – HUNTR/X
• “I’m Not A Boy” – Omar Rudberg
• “Fast” – Demi Lovato
• “No Broke Boys” – Disco Lines & Tinashe
• “Overqualified” – Durand Bernarr
• “Sticky Fingers” – Ashnikko
• “The Subway” – Chappell Roan
COMEDY MOVIE
• A Nice Indian Boy
• Griffin In Summer
• Pillion
• Queens Of The Dead
• Sorry, Baby
• The Parenting
• The Queen Of My Dreams
• The Wedding Banquet
• WINNER: Twinless
• Noah’s Arc: The Movie
DRAMA MOVIE
• 100 Nights Of Hero
• Before We Forget
• Hedda
• I Wish You All The Best
• Kiss Of The Spider Woman
• On Swift Horses
• Peter Hujar’s Day
• Plainclothes
• The History Of Sound
• WINNER: Wicked: For Good
FILM PERFORMANCE
• Andrew Scott – Blue Moon
• Corey Fogelmanis – I Wish You All The Best
• WINNER: Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
• Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
• Karan Soni – A Nice Indian Boy
• Kelly Marie Tran – The Wedding Banquet
• River Gallo – Ponyboi
• Russell Tovey – Plainclothes
• Tessa Thompson – Hedda
• Tonatiuh – Kiss Of The Spider Woman
TV COMEDY
• Adults
• WINNER: Boots (Netflix)
• Loot
• Hacks
• I Love LA
• Mid-Century Modern
• Overcompensating
• Palm Royale
• Survival Of The Thickest
• The Four Seasons
TV DRAMA
• WINNER: Heated Rivalry (HBO)
• Olympo
• Pluribus
• Severance
• The Gilded Age
• The Hunting Wives
• The Last Of Us
• The Pitt
• The White Lotus
• Wayward
TV PERFORMANCE
• Bella Ramsey – The Last Of Us
• Benito Skinner – Overcompensating
• Colman Domingo – The Four Seasons
• Erin Doherty – Adolescence
• WINNER: François Arnaud – Heated Rivalry
• Michaela Jaé Rodriguez – Loot
• Miles Heizer – Boots
• Owen Thiele – Adults
• Pablo Alborán – Breathless
• Supriya Ganesh – The Pitt
REALITY TV
• Back To The Frontier
• Below Deck
• Dragula: Titans
• Great British Bake-off
• House Of Villains
• Project Runway
• Survivor
• The Boyfriend
• WINNER: The Traitors (Peacock)
• The Ultimatum: Queer Love
READ
• Accidentally On Purpose – Kristen Kish
• I Wrote This For Attention – Lukas Gage
• Marsha – Tourmaline
• Ni De Aqui, Ni De Alla – Jorge Xolalpa
• Nice Girls Don’t Win – Parvati Shallow
• Paper Doll – Dylan Mulvaney
• Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything – Alyson Stoner
• WINNER: Simply More – Cynthia Erivo
• So Gay For You – Katherine Moennig & Leisha Hailey
• Walk Like A Girl – Prabal Gurung
SPORTS HERO
• Alyssa Thomas
• Amber Glenn
• Becky Hammon
• Blaize Shiek & Louie Conn
• Cal Calamia
• Erik Shoji
• WINNER: Gus Kenworthy
• Jason Collins
• Sue Bird
• Yared Nuguse
STYLE ICON
• Andrew Christian
• Antoni Porowski
• Brad Goreski
• Conner Ives
• Jeremy Pope
• Lux Pascal
• Nicky Campbell
• WINNER: Sarah Paulson
• Veejay Floresca
• Willy Chavarria
DIGITAL SERIES
• WINNER: Dragvestigations
• House Guest with Scott Evans
• Happy Endings with Bruno
• King Of Drag
• La Más Draga
• Slayers: Wheel Of Fate
• Hopeless Romantic Society
• Unconventional
• Very Important People
• Wish You Were Queer
REALITY TV STAR
• Chrishell Stause
• Emira D’Spain
• WINNER: Ezra Sosa
• Fraser Olender
• Gabby Windey
• Michols Peña
• Nany González
• Pari Kim
• Tiffany “New York” Pollard
• Zelah Glasson
NEXT BIG THING
• American Horror Story 13
• Cats: The Jellicle Ball
• Confessions On A Dance Floor Pt. 2
• Heartstopper Forever
• Practical Magic 2
• WINNER: Red, White & Royal Wedding (Amazon Prime Video)
• Scary Movie 6
• Stop! That! Train!
• The Comeback Season 3
• The Devil Wears Prada 2
