“Today’s nominees reflect a diverse range of openly gay and bisexual actors, characters and plot lines, all of which help Americans better understand and accept our community,” said Jarrett Barrios, President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). “By nominating eight openly gay, lesbian or bisexual actors for television’s highest honor, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has sent a clear message that LGBT actors are limitless in the roles that they play and offer a rich variety of talent that deserves recognition.”
Openly LGBT actors nominated (alphabetically):
* Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel (Glee) (pictured above left)
* Alan Cumming as Eli Gold (The Good Wife)
* Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) and as Bryan Ryan (Glee)
* Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett (Modern Family)
* Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester (Glee) and as Dr. Linda Freeman (Two and a Half Men)
* Ian McKellen as Two (The Prisoner)
* Lily Tomlin as Marilyn Tobin (Damages)
The 62 Annual Primetime Emmy Awards air live Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 8PM EST/5PM PST on NBC.
More after the jump.
Eric Stonestreet was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Cameron, Mitchell’s partner, on Modern Family and Will Arnett was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as the openly gay Devin Banks on 30 Rock.
Glee was the most nominated comedy series this year with 19 nominations, while Mad Men led all drama series with 17 nominations. Among Glee nominations were nods for openly gay director Paris Barclay, who directed the episode in which Kurt comes out to his father, as well as for the show’s openly gay creator Ryan Murphy, who wrote and directed the pilot.
Several of the nominees in the Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series categories, including Glee, Modern Family, Mad Men, and True Blood were also nominees earlier this year at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The GLAAD Media Awards, a benchmark for the media industry, recognize and honor media for outstanding images of the LGBT community and complement GLAAD’s work to bring LGBT images and stories to Americans. The LGBT-inclusive comedy series Nurse Jackie, The Office and 30 Rock were also GLAAD nominees.
Also of note, comedian Wanda Sykes was nominated for her HBO comedy special, Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me, which touched upon her experiences as a recently married lesbian woman raising a family. Sykes recently received the coveted Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco. In 2001, GLAAD also honored Glee director Paris Barclay with that same prize.
