On January 22, 2025, GLAAD announced the nominees for the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, and many of this year’s nominees center diverse and compelling stories about transgender and nonbinary people. Nominated for Outstanding Documentary is Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution – a feature-length documentary that counts Katherine LeBlond of Union Editorial as a producer. LeBlond and Union Partner/Editor James Haygood serve as Co-Executive Producers. Union’s Rodrigo Brazão edited the film, and Union also brought Post Supervisor Veronica ‘V$’ Garcia, Consulting Producer Kaitlin McLaughlin, and Assistant Editor Dion Riley to the project.
“To be nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution is an immense honor,” said LeBlond. “This recognition is a testament to the power of LGBTQ+ voices in comedy and the importance of amplifying those stories. I am incredibly grateful to the GLAAD organization for this acknowledgment.”
In Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, the legacy of LGBTQ comedians is examined, including out trans comedians such as Suzy Izzard and Roz Hernandez. The film had its world premiere on Netflix on June 18, 2024. Written and directed by Page Hurwitz, this is the first feature length documentary to examine the history of queer stand-up comedy. The documentary considers the importance of LGBTQ+ stand up as an instrument for social change over the past five decades, actively reflecting and challenging cultural norms and values. Ultimately, the film reveals that queer comedians — whether they intended to or not — helped change the world, one joke at a time.
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution combines interviews, memorable stand up performances, archival materials, and verité footage featuring top LGBTQ+ comedians including Lily Tomlin, Robin Tyler, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Todd Glass, Suzy Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, Rosie O’Donnell, Margaret Cho, Bob The Drag Queen, and Trixie Mattel, among others.
Full list of comedians interviewed comprises Billy Eichner, Bob The Drag Queen, Bruce Vilanch, Fortune Feimster, Gina Yashere, Guy Branum, Hannah Gadsby, James Adomian, Jim David, Joel Kim Booster, Judy Gold, KJ Whitehead, Lily Tomlin, Mae Martin, Margaret Cho, Marsha Warfield, Matteo Lane, Patti Harrison, River Butcher, Robin Tran, Robin Tyler, Rosie O’Donnell, Roz Hernandez, Sandra Bernhard, Scott Thompson, Solomon Georgio, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Suzy Izzard, Tig Notaro, Todd Glass, Trixie Mattel, and Wanda Sykes.
Historians Dave Holmes, Kate Aurthur, Roger Mason, Shar Jossell, and Susan Stryker are also interviewed.
Rounding out the Outstanding Documentary category at the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are: Breaking the News featuring trans nonbinary reporter Kate Sosin; Chasing Chasing Amy, in which trans filmmaker Sav Rodgers navigates the thorny legacy of the 1997 Kevin Smith film Chasing Amy; Hummingbirds, where two queer young adults, one of whom is nonbinary, navigate belonging and growing up in a Texas border town, along with their friend who is a trans woman; Who I Am Not, in which the lives of two intersex people living in South Africa intersect; and Will & Harper, chronicling the journey of Harper Steele, a newly out trans woman and former SNL writer, as she goes on a road trip with her long-time friend Will Ferrell.
The 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released, or broadcast between January 1 and December 31, 2024. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, which fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance, will take place in Los Angeles on March 27, 2025.
