The 2023 Academy Awards was a historic year for the LGBTQ community. With 8 openly LGBTQ people nominated, and 4 of the acting Oscars going to queer characters, it was an amazing night for representation in Hollywood.

A24's production Everything Everywhere All At Once took home seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh. In addition, three of the four acting trophies went to stars playing characters of the LGBTQ spectrum. This marks an important milestone in Hollywood history - it is the first time that a movie with an openly queer female lead has been awarded the coveted Best Picture statuette.

The Big Winners

The biggest winner of the night was definitely Everything Everywhere All At Once, which won seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director. The movie follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a talented young scientist who faces discrimination due to her sexual orientation and gender identity while trying to make revolutionary advances in energy storage technology. It’s an inspiring story that resonated with audiences worldwide and led to its historic win at this year’s Oscars. In addition, Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, Evelyn Wang’s lesbian lover, in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for his portrayal of the gay character Charlie – a reclusive English professor who weighs over 600 pounds and is struggling to reconnect with his daughter - in the movie The Whale. Rejected by his family after coming out, Charlie is also dealing with the death of his partner.

Also Notable

Ruth E. Carter became the first Black woman to win two Oscars with her newest win for Wakanda Forever.

Women Talking, directed and written by Sarah Polley won Best Adapted Screenplay and features a transgender character played by nonbinary actor August Winter and gay actor Ben Whishaw playing a non-toxic and possibly queer-coded male. 

Innovations & Changes

One thing that really stood out about this year’s ceremony was the innovations and changes made by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in order to make it more inclusive and diverse. For example, they announced plans to introduce gender-neutral acting categories over time; as well as create additional diversity initiatives that encourage representation from underrepresented groups on screen and behind-the-scenes in Hollywood. The Academy also announced new guidelines which require films to meet certain criteria regarding diversity or risk being disqualified from competing for major awards like Best Picture or Actor/Actress categories.