37th #GLAADAwards Nominees Spotlight Outstanding Stories for Families
GLAAD announced this week the nominees for the 37th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honoring the best in LGBTQ-inclusive news and entertainment. This year’s nominees include outstanding series and films for families, check out the list below and add some of these titles to the queue for your next family viewing night!
In 2018, GLAAD made history by co-hosting the first LGBTQ panel at the Kidscreen Summit. That same year, GLAAD introduced the inaugural GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family programming. In the eight years since, that first category expanded to three categories spotlighting inclusive stories for younger audiences and families.
Nominees in the “Outstanding Children’s Programming” category shine a spotlight on both supportive and loving LGBTQ families and celebrating self-acceptance. Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness appears in a standout episode of HBO Max’s Sesame Street, “No Wrong Way to Be You,” where they talk about the power they found in their own style and help Niamh as she wonders about switching up her own hair and look. Apple TV’s Be@rbrick follows a group of young musicians who are determined to live their dreams in a world where everyone’s role is chosen for them, including Nick Hazard who is worried he’ll be assigned an office job like his two moms.
Disney Jr.’s Firebuds had further appearances by Violet’s moms, Val and Viv, including an episode in which Violet tries to plan the perfect Mother’s Day party for them. The new HBO Max series Mermicorno: Starfall follows a group of mermaid-unicorns on a quest to save the ocean from an evil villain. On their adventure, the mermicornos find a young lost fish who they help reunite with his moms that had been searching the sea for him. The final episodes of Disney’s Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures includes appearances by Nash’s moms, Ceeli and Kryys, including an episode where Nash goes on a hunt for the perfect birthday gift for her mom and loops in all her friends to help.
The nominees in “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Live Action” showcased nuanced depictions of LGBTQ young people and parents across a variety of genres and identities. Season two of the Paramount+ hit School Spiritssaw a touching relationship develop between ghosts Charley and Yuri, as well as featuring an episode that explores and deepens Charley’s friendship with Wally after his past as a bully was called out. Fans can look forward to an all new season coming later this month, premiering on January 28. Netflix’s XO, Kittycontinues to be one of few series for younger audiences that features a lead queer character. In the series second season, Kitty returns to school and her friends at the Korean Independent School of Seoul where she has to balance classes with a love triangle between herself and her roommates Yuri and Juliana, and exposing a saboteur who is out to ruin the school talent show and Kitty’s reputation. Season three is expected to premiere on Netflix later this year. Disney+’s Goosebumps: The Vanishing follows twin siblings Cece and Devin who set off a chain of mysterious events after entering a haunted fort with their friends. Over the course of the season, Cece and Alex, the town’s rebellious “bad girl,” become friends and then fall for each other.
The final season of Apple TV’s Jane included appearances by Kevin and Lucas, the dads of Jane’s best friend David. Hulu’s historical adventure series Washington Black follows the life of George Washington Black who travels the globe on a flying machine with Christopher Wilde, an eccentric inventor. Wash and Wilde travel to the Arctic in search of Wilde’s presumed-dead father James and are surprised to find him alive and living with his deaf partner, Peter.
The nominees in “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Animated” prove that animation is a powerful format to tell a wide variety of stories across genres. Hulu’s story book adaptation The Bravest Knight tells the tale of Sir Cedric, his husband Prince Andrew, and their daughter Nia as she trains to become a brave knight herself. The final season of the action-packed Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (Netflix) dove deeper into the relationship between fan favorites, Yaz and Sammy.
HBO Max’s Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake centered queer couple Gary and Marshall with much of the season revolving around the fight to bring Gary’s dream to life: opening a community space and bakery, The Sweet Spot. The season also continued to feature fan favorite couple Bubblegum and Marcelline, and introduced a nonbinary character, Hunter. Disney+’s The Proud Family: Louder & Prouder included a touching episode with KG and Maya’s dads talking to the kids about their family when KG asks about his adoption, and Disney Channel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur continued to feature trans girl Brooklyn and nonbinary student Tai.
The 37th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released, or broadcast between January 1 and December 31, 2025. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremony, which funds GLAAD’s work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance, will take place in Los Angeles on March 5, 2026. You can keep up with the latest developments by following GLAAD on BlueSky, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Believer / U.S.A. (Director: Don Argott, Producers: Heather Parry, Sheena M. Joyce, Robert Reynolds) — Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the church’s policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change. World Premiere
The Catcher Was a Spy/ U.S.A. (Director: Ben Lewin, Screenwriter: Robert Rodat, Producers: Kevin Frakes, Tatiana Kelly, Buddy Patrick, Jim Young) — The true story of Moe Berg – professional baseball player, Ivy League graduate, attorney who spoke nine languages – and a top-secret spy for the OSS who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. Cast: Paul Rudd, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti. World Premiere
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot / U.S.A. (Director: Gus Van Sant, Screenwriters: Gus Van Sant (screenplay), John Callahan (biography), Producers: Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Mourad Belkeddar, Steve Golin, Nicolas Lhermitte) — John Callahan has a talent for off-color jokes…and a drinking problem. When a bender ends in a car accident, Callahan wakes permanently confined to a wheelchair. In his journey back from rock bottom, Callahan finds beauty and comedy in the absurdity of human experience. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black. World Premiere
The Happy Prince / Germany, Belgium, Italy (Director and screenwriter: Rupert Everett) — The last days of Oscar Wilde—and the ghosts haunting them—are brought to vivid life. His body ailing, Wilde lives in exile, surviving on the flamboyant irony and brilliant wit that defined him as the transience of lust is laid bare and the true riches of love are revealed. Cast: Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan, Edwin Thomas, Rupert Everett. World Premiere
Hearts Beat Loud /U.S.A. (Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch, Producers: Houston King, Sam Bisbee, Sam Slater) — In Red Hook, Brooklyn, a father and daughter become an unlikely songwriting duo in the last summer before she leaves for college. Cast:Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner, Toni Collette. World Premiere
A Kid Like Jake / U.S.A. (Director: Silas Howard, Screenwriter: Daniel Pearle, Producers: Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak, Eric Norsoph, Paul Bernon, Rachel Song) — As married couple Alex and Greg navigate their roles as parents to a young son who prefers Cinderella to G.I. Joe, a rift grows between them, one that forces them to confront their own concerns about what’s best for their child, and each other. Cast: Claire Danes, Jim Parsons, Octavia Spencer, Priyanka Chopra, Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker. World Premiere
Lizzie / U.S.A. (Director: Craig William Macneill, Screenwriter: Bryce Kass, Producers: Naomi Despres, Liz Destro) — Based on the 1892 murder of Lizzie Borden’s family in Fall River, MA, this tense psychological thriller lays bare the legend of Lizzie Borden to reveal the much more complex, poignant and truly terrifying woman within — and her intimate bond with the family’s young Irish housemaid, Bridget Sullivan. Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare. World Premiere
The Miseducation of Cameron Post / U.S.A. (Director: Desiree Akhavan, Screenwriters: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele, Producers: Cecilia Frugiuele, Jonathan Montepare, Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub) — 1993: after being caught having sex with the prom queen, a girl is forced into a gay conversion therapy center. Based on Emily Danforth’s acclaimed and controversial coming-of-age novel. Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle. World Premiere
Quiet Heroes/ U.S.A. (Director: Jenny Mackenzie, Co-Directors: Jared Ruga, Amanda Stoddard, Producers: Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, Amanda Stoddard) — In Salt Lake City, Utah, the socially conservative religious monoculture complicated the AIDS crisis, where patients in the entire state and intermountain region relied on only one doctor. This is the story of her fight to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die. World Premiere
Skate Kitchen / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle, Screenwriters: Crystal Moselle, Ashlihan Unaldi, Producers: Lizzie Nastro, Izabella Tzenkova, Julia Nottingham, Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Rodrigo Teixeira) — Camille’s life as a lonely suburban teenager changes dramatically when she befriends a group of girl skateboarders. As she journeys deeper into this raw New York City subculture, she begins to understand the true meaning of friendship as well as her inner self. Cast: Rachelle Vinberg, Dede Lovelace, Jaden Smith, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, Kabrina Adams. World Premiere
STUDIO 54 / U.S.A. (Director: Matt Tyrnauer, Producers: Matt Tyrnauer, John Battsek, Corey Reeser) — Studio 54 was the pulsating epicenter of 1970s hedonism: a disco hothouse of beautiful people, drugs, and sex. The journeys of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell — two best friends from Brooklyn who conquered New York City — frame this history of the “greatest club of all time.” World Premiere
White Rabbit / U.S.A. (Director: Daryl Wein, Screenwriters: Daryl Wein, Vivian Bang, Producers: Daryl Wein, Vivian Bang) —A dramatic comedy following a Korean American performance artist who struggles to be authentically heard and seen through her multiple identities in modern Los Angeles. Cast: Vivian Bang, Nana Ghana, Nico Evers-Swindel, Tracy Hazas, Elizabeth Sung, Michelle Sui. World Premiere