In a very ragged and somewhat disjointed Golden Globes the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handed put more than its usual share of surprises, some of which delighted and/or confused the LGBT community.

Rami Malik had been tipped as a likely winner for Best Actor in Drama Movie for his riveting performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.  What wasn’t expected was that the movie, a commercial hit but critical disaster. would rob A Star Is Born of the Best Picture Award.  However no mention was made from the stage of director Bryan Singer who was fired two weeks before the end of the shooting and who still has sexual assault allegations hanging over him.

There was no such surprise however when Olivia Colman picked up her Best Actress Award for a Comedy for her subliminal role as the lesbian Queen Anne in The Favourite, and in a very affectionate acceptance speech made a point of acknowledging her bitches Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone who were beaming with delight.  The win for Colman bares well for her chances of picking up an Oscar as well.

Mahershala Ali picked up best supporting actor for his role in The Green Book …… we won’t mention how this qualifies as a queer win to avoid spoilers if you still haven’t seen the movie yet..  Strangely enough Ali failed to win the Golden Globe for his role in Moonlight in 2017, but went on to win the Oscar for the role. Who knows what lies in store for him at the Academy Awards this year.

Out gay actor Ben Whishaw won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television playing Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal scripted by Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies  It is a dramatized version of a real homosexual scandal in England that brought down a very prominent politician.  Whishaw also gave the best acceptance speech of the evening when he said 

“There’s one person I really, really want to dedicate this award to and it’s the man I had the privilege to portray in this show, Norman Scott, who took on the establishment with courage and defiance that I find completely inspiring,” 

“He is a true queer hero and icon.“

Darren Criss who recently publicly stated he didn’t want to take any more gay roles away from gay actors  picked up a Best Actor Award  for his portrayal of gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace.  as the Ryan Murphy series was named Best Limited TV Series.

Meanwhile out gay actor Billy Porter didn’t attempt to hide his disappointment  when Ryan Murphy’s Pose failed to win Best Drama Series and Porter missed out on a Best Actor award.

One of the major reasons for the Globes being a bigger drag than usual this year were the out-of-control long interminable speeches.  Most of them are spent thanking lists of studio executives and publicist which mean absolutely nothing to the millions of people watching,  so totally fall on deaf ears.  Acceptances are meant to acknowledge why they won the award ….. and maybe make a political or social point that everyone can relate too.

Kudos to Carol Burnett, Glenn Close, and Patricia Arquette etc who remembered that we are watching this show to not just celebrate their wins BUT to be entertained and stop us wanting to reach for the remote to turn off to stop being bored anymore.