Five LGBTQ Moments You Might Have Missed At The 2020 Oscars

From Olivia Colman’s sex confessions to Joaquin Phoenix’s bewilderingly poetic speech about animal milk, The 92nd Academy Awards was undoubtedly the most chaotic three and a half hours of television I’ve ever seen.

It gave us highs — like Parasite taking home the Oscar for first best picture in a foreign language, the lovable Bong Joon Ho giving us dad jokes, and Taika Watiti becoming the first Maori winner for JoJo Rabbit’s “Best Adapted Screenplay.”

It gave us questions—like how did Idina Menzel wardrobe change her face and learn to sing Frozen’s “Into The Unknown” in ten different languages? Why were presenters introducing presenters? Why was Timothée Chalamet dressed like he’s going to change my motorcycle oil?

And, predictably, it gave us lows—like Eminem bursting through a time portal like the damn Kool-Aid man to give us a performance of “Lose Yourself” that not a single soul asked for.

But most importantly, it gave us some key moments to recognize LGBTQ visibility on the Oscar’s stage—which I’m here to highlight for you below.

1. Janelle Monae’s Showstopper Opening

Kevin Winter (Getty Images)

When she came out as pansexual in 2018, Janelle Monae instantly became an absolute icon in the LGBTQ+ community. Through proudly living her truth, Janelle brings visibility and power to the LGBTQ+ community in places where terms like “queer” and “pansexual” have yet to reach the mainstream. The 92nd Academy Awards were no exception as Janelle delivered a jaw-dropping celebration of women, queers, black artists, and diversity.

When I found out Janelle Monae was performing at the Oscars, my first thought was that this band of old, white, sexist, racist raisins does not deserve the presence of our queen! But the moment she stepped on stage, rocking that classic throwback pompadour and looking like the finest Mrs. Rogers of all our dreams, I was floored. She delivered an electrifying and empowering performance. She spoke directly to us, wished us a “Happy Black History month,” celebrated being a “black queer artist telling stories” and mentioned all the women who directed phenomenal films—notably women the Academy unsurprisingly snubbed. She took to the piano and was joined by gay actor/entertainer/extraordinaire Billy Porter, donned in a trench coat designed by one hundred rich alligators, singing a rendition of Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.” She gave us freedom. She gave us celebration. She gave us a chorus of badass women on horns and Brie Larson dropping her first hot single since Finally Out of PE.

Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer Emotion Picture

Well, sort of. For those of us who aren’t up on the inner lives of celesbian women and their drama, let’s take a quick gay history lesson and learn about why this moment made all of the lesbians of the world take one collective gasp. During her performance of “Come Alive,” Janelle and her dancers clad in costume from the year’s most iconic (also mostly snubbed) films parade through the audience, snapping their fingers and asking celebrities to join in with her chorus. Stopping directly in front of Brie Larson, Janelle says, “I know you can sing,” then pulls the microphone away, effectively cutting Brie off before she can finish. 

Why was this so juicy? Because in 2018, Janelle Monae and equally legendary dreamboat Tessa Thompson were an adorable, weirdly artistic item. Tessa starred in Janelle’s “Dirty Computer” emotion picture, they got extra cozy at our girl Issa Rae’s house, Janelle wrote Tessa a song about goats, and they whisked away on a “girls trip” to Mexico. Not to mention that time that Tessa popped through the legs of Janelle’s pink pussy pants. (Yes, you read that right.) 

PinkNews.com (Getty Images)

So quick fast forward—to May of 2019, when the word was that the couple split up! All the light in the world had gone out. The sky had fallen. Love had died. And in true lesbian fashion, the breakup speculation entered the internet at light speed. Immediately afterward, it was rumored Tessa Thompson and her Avenger’s costar, Brie Larson, were publicly flirting during the release of the Avengers: End Game movie. Brie openly declared Tessa Thompson her dream girl, Tessa let all of instagram know how she felt about Brie in her Captain Marvel costume (“hot”), and the two openly shipped a relationship between their superhero alter egos. Not to mention, they also broke the internet with their conversation about “lesbian topping” at ACE Comic Con. Yes, topping! As in, each other!

Sure, this snub by Janelle could have been an innocent moment. OR this could be EXACTLY the drama you think it is—that classic moment when you run into your ex’s new girlfriend and have to show her that you’re the May Queen now, bitch.

2. Beanie Feldstein Introducing Mindy Kaling As Her “Queen"

If you haven’t seen Booksmart, cancel your Tuesgay night and stream this masterpiece immediately. It’s essential viewing for all of us who have suffered the awkwardness of queer teenage romance, like to laugh, would be into Judd Apatow movies if Judd Apatow wasn’t a total trash bag, and/or want to know why Beanie Feldstein is one of the greatest gifts Hollywood has given us in the last decade. (So basically, all of us. Go watch it.)

Bruce Glikas (FilmMagic)

Beanie Feldstein and her producer-girlfriend Bonnie Chance have been instagram goals for years. Not only have they mastered the lesbian art of color coordinating, but they have publicly declared their love as a “transformative experience” and given us stellar red carpet representation which is few and far between in Hollywood.

As if we needed another reason to stan Beanie Feldstein, she also donned a blue ribbon pinned to her dress as a nod to the ACLU. You know, the ACLU that fights daily in our wrecked judicial system to help us queers in America. So yeah, Beanie rocks. 

3. Gal Gadot, Sigourney Weaver, and Brie Larson Presenting Together

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but when was the last time you saw three straight women collectively express their desire to form a fight club at a black tie formal? There’s just something inherently gay about everything going on in this scenario.

During this segment of the Oscars, we also witnessed a moment that caused INTENSE controversy. To break it down, Sigourney Weaver declared “all women are superheroes,” sending the internet into an absolute Twitter tailspin. In what can only be described as unanimous uproar, many feminist viewers shared their offense and outrage at Weaver’s quote—the majority of whom rushed to point out that women are not perfect, there are plenty of evil women in the world, and this characterization of superheroes sets the bar too high for women to achieve.

Here’s my #hot-take of this controversy: whatever our impression of this moment, the intended message was indisputably to empower women. When we pick apart and dismantle this message to say it wasn’t “this” enough or “that” enough, we’re diluting the effort to validate that women are strong, capable, and talented assets to the world. 

We recognize that men’s responses of “not all men” in conversation about sexual assault or violence are problematic. We know the “not all men” defense is unhelpful because the overall goal of the conversation is to raise awareness of an important issue. And we see that the “not all men” defense intends to shift the focus to most men being better than what we’re giving them credit for.

So, when we respond to a message about empowering women for their greatness with “not all women” are deserving, we are shifting the focus to further the idea that most women are actually worse than we believe.

Again — “not all men” in the sexual assault context is designed to further the idea of “good men”.

“Not all women” in this “superhero” context is designed to further the idea of “bad women”.

It’s a derailment tactic that actually strengthens misogynistic ideals and patriarchal control. We’re falling right into the trap — women are actually not “that great,” not “that talented,” not “that deserving of recognition.” Because the truth is, when you look at conservative outlets like Breitbart, they also have an issue with this quote — because they recognize that the goal was to unite and empower women, and they want to be a part of maligning that effort. The more we justify these derailment tactics, the more we feed the belief that there is a problem declaring that women have power. It’s a confusing and unnecessary set of mental gymnastics; so let’s just let women feel empowered, yeah?

While we can certainly derive our own meaning and perspective from Weaver’s “all women are superheroes” quote, get into the nitty gritty of the superhero vs. villains dichotomy, and unpack the definition of what it means to be a superhero in the first place (psst - they, too, have flaws!) an important question to ask is, “Can we really afford to be arguing with messages intending to support women’s power right now?” In a cultural climate where Donald Trump openly uses the presidential platform to degrade women, and the 92nd Academy Awards is protested for its failure to recognize the achievements of women, perhaps it would be wise to celebrate messages of empowerment instead.

There is already enough ammo for the other side without us tearing each other down for simply trying to be uplifting. Acknowledging and celebrating comments of power and shared struggle doesn’t detract from our ability to hold other women accountable — there are plenty of women who are undeserving of the “hero” characterization, but these women also have to contend with living in a patriarchal society.

Even if they suck in a lot of ways, they still have to deal with the Big Suck of our sexist culture. Meghan McCain even married some guy who bullied her online. If that’s not some psychotic patriarchal nightmare, I don’t know what is. “Bad women” also face sexism, wage gaps, gender inequality, and lots of other obstacles that men do not have to contend with.

At the very least, we can stop blaming these three women who have used their platform to speak out against sexism in Hollywood. Let’s talk about the fact that Natalie Portman embroidered her cape with the names of all the women who were kept out of the nomination conversation! Let’s talk about Chris Rock’s problematic comment equating “vaginas” with “women!” Let’s hold the Academy accountable for their sexism - and not use Gal Gadot, Sigourney Weaver, and Brie Larson as their scapegoats.

4. That Bizarre But Timelessly Poignant Sally Ride Shoutout from Renee Zellweger 

Lucas Jackson (REUTERS)

To be fair, it would be hard to find any adjective that would fail to cover Renee Zellweger’s acceptance speech. It was bizarre and inspirational. It was patriotic and pro-immigrant. It was genders and generations. It was equal parts Venus and Serena and Selena. And most importantly, the first shoutout on Zellweger’s heroes monologue was Sally Ride, the first LGBT astronaut and third woman ever to make it to outer space.

However scattered Zellweger’s speech may have been, Sally ride was a hero. Her identity as a lesbian woman was revealed after her death, which is likely in response to NASA’s mission to declare homosexuality a “psychiatrically disqualified condition” in 1990. She was a champion for science education, the women’s movement, and notably, the title of a Janelle Monae song to come full circle. Give us our Sally Ride biopic already, Hollywood. And call us if you need any ideas!

5. Elton John’s Performance and Oscar for “I’m Gonna Love Me Again”

Kevin Winter (Getty Images)

Gay legend and icon Elton John performed “I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” a song he composed for Rocketman, (a film I was sure came out five years ago but apparently released in 2019). It was self-care! It was celebration! It was vogue! Later in the evening, Elton won an oscar for the same song and thanked his husband David Furnish on stage. Surprisingly, this oscar was only Elton John’s second following “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” in 1994. Though I’ve yet to see Rocketman, I would like the record to reflect that I’m all for any “best original song” nominee so long as it’s not a ballad about plastic sporks and trash cans. 

And until the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021, I leave you with this clip of LA’s Gay Men Chorus at the Spirit Awards giving us an iconic rendition of Laura Dern.

Stay tuned for our upcoming reviews!