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Emmys 2019: LGBTQ stars and shows rack up nominations

Is this the biggest year yet for queer TV talent?

By Will Stroude

The nominations for the 2019 Emmys are in, and it might just be the gayest year yet for for TV’s biggest awards night.

Killing Eve leads the ‘queer interest’ pack with nine nominations, including Outstanding Actress (Drama) nods for Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, and an Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination for gay national treasure Fiona Shaw (who picks up a second for her guest starring role in Phoebe-Waller Bridge’s Fleabag.

Pose is up for six awards, including the prestigious Outstanding Drama Series, while the iconic Billy Porter has landed a Best Actor (Drama) nomination for his acclaimed role as Pray Tell.

Russell T Davies’ A Very English Scandal is up for four awards, with stars Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw nominated for Outstanding Actor (Limited Series) and Outstanding Supporting Actor (Limited Series) respectively. Davies himself has also been nominated for Outstanding Writing (Limited Series).

Elsewhere, Orange Is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Cherry Jones will go head-to-head in the Outstanding Guest Actress category, while former Glee star Jane Lynch will be up against Shaw in the Outstanding Guest Actress (Comedy) category following her turn in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel.

In other good news, Netflix’s groundbreaking Special, which charts the romantic follies of gay man living with cerebral palsyis up for Outstanding Shortform Comedy or Drama Series, while Kate McKinnon is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress (Comedy) for her work on Saturday Night Live.

In the reality categories, RuPaul’s Drag Race looms large, with nine nominations – while Ru himself will battle it out with Ellen DeGeneres in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program category.

Queer Eye will be hoping to add to its Emmy total after being nominated in six categories, while RENT: Live is up for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).

Meanwhile, queer comics Wanda Sykes and Hannah Gadsby will also be hoping to add an Emmy to their mantlepiece (or another, in the case of Sykes) after their respective comedy specials Not Normal and Nanette were nominated for Outstanding Variety Special – while Billy Eichner’s Billy on the Street is up for Outstanding Shortform Variety Series.

We’ll find out whether our esteemed LGBTQ nomineees will be walking away with a trophy when the Emmy Awards 2019 take place on 22 September.

Check out a full rundownthe biggest categories below:

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bodyguard
Game of Thrones
Killing Eve
Ozark
Pose
Succession
This Is Us

Outstanding Comedy Series
Barry
Fleabag
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
The Good Place
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Veep

Outstanding Limited Series
Chernobyl
Escape at Dannemora
Fosse/Verdon
Sharp Objects
When They See Us

Outstanding Drama Actor
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Kit Harington (Game of Thrones)
Jason Bateman (Ozark)
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us)
Billy Porter (Pose)

Outstanding Drama Actress
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
Viola Davis (How To Get Away With Murder)
Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve)
Mandy Moore (This Is Us)
Laura Linney (Ozark)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul)
Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
Chris Sullivan (This Is Us)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
Gwendoline Christine (Game of Thrones)
Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones)
Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones)
Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve)
Julia Garner (Ozark)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Michael McKean (Better Call Saul)
Glynn Turman (How To Get Away With Murder)
Kumail Nanjiani (The Twilight Zone)
Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Michael Angarano (This Is Us)
Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Apocalypse)
Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones)
Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black)
Cicely Tyson (How To Get Away With Murder)
Cherry Jones (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Phylicia Rashad (This Is Us)

Outstanding Comedy Actor
Bill Hader (Barry)
Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek)
Ted Danson (The Good Place)
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)

Outstanding Comedy Actress
Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag)
Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Henry Winkler (Barry)
Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
Stephen Root (Barry)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Sarah Goldberg (Barry)
Sian Clifford (Fleabag)
Olivia Colman (Fleabag)
Betty Gilpin (GLOW)
Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series 
Robert De Niro (Saturday Night Live)
John Mulaney (Saturday Night Live)
Adam Sandler (Saturday Night Live)
Matt Damon (Saturday Night Live)
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Rufus Sewell (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Peter MacNicol (Veep)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Fiona Shaw (Fleabag)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Fleabag)
Emma Thompson (Saturday Night Live)
Sandra Oh (Saturday Night Live)
Maya Rudolph (The Good Place)
Jane Lynch (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series
Mahershala Ali (True Detective)
Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal)
Benicio del Toro (Escape At Dannemora)
Sam Rockwell (Fosse/Verdon)
Jared Harris (Chernobyl)
Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series
Amy Adams (Sharp Objects)
Patricia Arquette (Escape At Dannemora)
Michelle Williams (Fosse/Verdon)
Joey King (The Act)
Aunjanue Ellis (When They See Us)
Niecy Nash (When They See Us)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series
Ben Whishaw (A Very English Scandal)
Stellan Skarsgard (Chernobyl)
Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora)
John Leguizamo (When They See Us)
Michael K. Williams (When They See Us)
Asante Blackk (When They See Us)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series
Emily Watson (Chernobyl)
Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects)
Marsha Stephanie Blake (When They See Us)
Vera Farmiga (When They See Us)
Patricia Arquette (The Act)
Margaret Qualley (Fosse/Verdon)

Outstanding Television Movie
Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Brexit
King Lear
My Dinner with Hervé

Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
An Emmy For Megan
Better Call Saul Employee Training: Madrigal Electromotive Security
Hack Into Broad City
It’s Bruno!
Special

Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Patton Oswalt (An Emmy For Megan)
Jimmy Fallon (Beto Breaks The Internet)
Ed Begley Jr. (Ctrl Alt Delete)
Jonthan Banks (Better Call Saul Employee Training: Madrigal Electromotive Security)
Chris O’Dowd (State of the Union)

Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Ilana Glazer (Hack Into Broad City)
Abbi Jacobson (Hack Into Broad City)
Jessica Hecht (Special)
Punam Patel (Special)
Rosamund Pike (State of the Union)

Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series
Creating Saturday Night Live
Pose: Identity, Family, Community (Inside Look)
Fosse/Verdon (Inside Look)
RuPaul’s Drag Race’s: Out Of The Closet
RuPaul’s Drag Race’s: Portrait Of A Queen

Outstanding Short Form Variety Series
Billy On The Street
Carpool Karaoke: The Series
Gay Of Thrones
Honest Trailers
The Randy Rainbow Show

Outstanding Animated Program
Big Mouth “The Planned Parenthood Show”
Bob’s Burgers “Just One Of The Boyz 4 Now For Now”
BoJack Horseman “Free Churro”
Come Along With Me (Adventure Time)
The Simpsons “Mad About The Toy”

Outstanding Competition Program
American Ninja Warrior
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Nailed It!
The Amazing Race
The Voice
Top Chef

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen’s Game of Games)
RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race)
Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman (Making It)
James Corden (The World’s Best)
Marie Kondo (Tidying Up With Marie Kondo)

Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
Queer Eye
Shark Tank
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo
Who Do You Think You Are?

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Born This Way
Deadliest Catch
Life Below Zero
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked
Somebody Feed Phil
United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell

Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program
American Ninja Warrior “Minneapolis City Qualifiers”
Queer Eye “Black Girl Magic”
RuPaul’s Drag Race “Whatcha Unpackin?”
Shark Tank “Episode 1002”
The Amazing Race “Who Wants A Rolex?”

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
The Late Late Show With James Corden
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-recorded)
Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé
Springsteen on Broadway
Wanda Sykes: Not Normal