Kentucky Creatives Nominated for 2025 GLAAD Media Awards
The 36th annual GLAAD Media Awards recognize groundbreaking representation of the LGBTQ+ community in media, and this year’s nominees include a line-up of talent very close to home.
With the state of Queer rights at a crossroads of uncertainty and fear, this year’s nominees were fearless in telling the stories of trans athletes, being Black and Queer, trans migration, and immigration through the lens of two Queer bordertown besties.
Meet the Kentuckians, or should we say, 2025 GLAAD Award nominees that are natives of the Bluegrass state and others who have frequent enough to be self-titled “partially Kentuckian.”
David Artavia
“A nomination like this affirms that the stories we tell aren’t just being heard, but truly resonating,” said David Artavia, an award-winning journalist and senior reporter at Yahoo. Artavia’s write-up, “CeCé Telfer Was Barred From Competing at The 2024 Paris Olympics as a Trans Woman Athlete. She Has Her Sights Set On L.A. In 2028” is nominated for Outstanding Online Journalism Article.
Artavia is no stranger to being nominated and even winning, but he said this nomination in particular comes at an important time for the Queer community. “The nomination is about visibility, legitimacy and pushing back against misinformation.”
Profiling trans woman, CeCé Telfer, he adds, “in a climate where trans people in sports are politicized, even within the LGBTQ+ community, storytelling is the only way to humanize the conversation.”
While Artavia is not a native from the Bluegrass state, he confirms, “I wasn’t born in Kentucky; I chose it.” Artavia relocated to Kentucky two years ago to be with his partner, and has fallen in love with Queer Kentuckians, he shared, “I’ve come to know and deeply admire the queer communities in Lexington and Louisville — their strength, resilience and unwavering sense of hospitality.”
Gill Holland
With roots in the city of Lynch and now a long-time resident of Louisville, Gill Holland is bringing visibility to LGBTQ+ voices as a creative and ally. Holland was an Executive Producer on the film “Hummingbirds”, nominated for Outstanding Documentary. “We allies have to use our voices to say how important it is for all of us to tell these stories so that we continue to humanize our LGBTQ citizens during this time when the White House is trying to erase them,” said Holland.
The documentary follows bestfriends Silvia and Beba, who are making magic of their last summer together in their hometown on the Texas-Mexico border. Holland hopes the nomination can help bring importance to the story being told which may have been overlooked, he said, “it makes the film more undeniable for all the industry execs who maybe have not given it much thought (and we need them to help get the film out into the world).”
For indie films like “Hummingbirds” Holland said he realizes the impact a nomination under GLAAD can have, “the first documentary I ever worked on Dear Jesse (HBO) was also nominated in 1997 and I could see how the GLAAD “seal of approval” helped bring folks to our movie.”
Nico Lang
At a time where Nico Lang, a freelance writer, author and double-nominee, believes it can feel lonely to be Queer under this new administration, their nomination is a sign to fight back. This year, Lang is nominated for Outstanding Online Journalism Article and Outstanding Independent Journalism for their passion-project, Queer News Daily. With attacks from the Trump administration on LGBTQ+ rights, Lang hopes, “this nomination at some level is a reminder to folks that there are still people out there fighting for us.”
This year also marks a special milestone for Lang, being recognized for their independent platform, Queer News Daily. “I started this platform because I know other Queer writers are probably facing the same thing, that they are being told there is no audience for their work.” Over 2,000 posts later and 48,000 followers on Instagram, the platform is recognized as a source for LGBTQ+ breaking news.
With a career spanning over 13 years, Lang feels lucky to have their work recognized through a nomination. “As a writer you don’t know if people are reading your work…it is nice to be reminded, like one time a year that people paid attention, that feels really good.”
While not a native of the Bluegrass state, Lang considers themselves “partially Kentuckian” having spent summers in Petersburg growing up. Most recently, they made a pit stop in Covington and Lexington as part of their book tour for “American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era.”
Spencer Jenkins
“It felt surreal,” said Spencer Jenkins, Founding Executive Director of Queer Kentucky, a publishing and activist organization advancing Queer culture, about the outlet’s nomination. This year, Queer Kentucky celebrates its first-ever GLAAD nomination for Outstanding Print Article for “Noah J. Ricketts Brings the Bluegrass to Hollywood and Broadway”, a write-up by Jenkins.
“Noah has brought great visibility to Black, queer men on the screen through his work,” said Jenkins, about highlighting Ricketts, a Louisville-born actor, adding, “it was an honor to be able to tie his Kentucky story into that and uplift the total package into a beautifully designed magazine article.”
For Jenkins, the nomination is an opportunity to inspire Queer people to create what they are passionate about even if it seems unattainable. Will the outcome be perfect? Jenkins adds, “no, probably not, but it will be something magical that they created and can be proud of.” The recognition also puts a spotlight on Kentucky, “it means that people care about Kentucky and that people are legitimately SEEING Queer Kentucky.”
For an outlet that may have been seen as an underdog in media, that feeling is no more, nominated alongside outlets like TIME and Variety, to which Jenkins says, “we’re with the big dogs!”
The 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 27, 2025.
