All the major LGBTQ+ winners and losers at the Oscars 2025
From Elton John to Emilia Pérez, these are the big LGBTQ+ winners and losers at the Oscars. (Getty)
The most nominated film at this year’s Oscars was about a transgender former cartel boss (Emilia Pérez, 13 nods). One of the year’s biggest box offices smashes had an almost exclusively LGBTQ+ lead cast (Wicked). It’s fair to say that the 2025 Oscars had potential to be very, very queer indeed.
So, how queer was it in the end? After major success for Anora (five accolades), how did Emilia Pérez fare? With Ralph Fiennes and Adrien Brody seemingly going head-to-head for the Best Actor award, did Colman Domingo stand a chance? Here are the big LGBTQ+ winners and losers at this year’s Oscars.
Win: Paul Tazewell
Paul Tazewell, the impeccably-dressed gay costume designer behind the spectacular outfits in Jon M Chu’s Wicked, made history at the Oscars by becoming the first Black man to win the Best Costume Design award. It’s richly deserved: he made approximately 1,000 costumes for Wicked, with the intricate looks helping to make the musical adaptation the visual feast it is. He was previously nominated in the category for West Side Story in 2022. He’s also got nine Tony Award nominations (and one win, for Hamilton) under his belt.
Win: Zoë Saldaña
It was a sure bet, considering Zoë Saldaña swept the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards in the Best Supporting Actress category, and now she’s done it again. She bagged the Best Supporting Actress gong at the Oscars for her role as dogged lawyer Rita in Spanish-language, transgender crime musical Emilia Pérez, and broke down in tears during her speech as she lauded the fact she is the child of immigrant parents.
Win, sort of: Wicked
In addition to Paul Tazewell’s historic win for Best Costume Design, Wicked managed to bag another award for Best Production Design. Two out of ten nominations isn’t a roaring success, but it’s not bad going (only Anora and The Brutalist managed more than two). The biggest Wicked win of the night, though, was undoubtedly within the first five minutes: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s epic The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, and Wicked medley opened the 97th Oscars, and solidified the duo as two of this year’s big-time winners, award or no award.
Win, sort of: Emilia Pérez
Jacques Audiard’s transgender musical crime thriller Emilia Pérez tread an odd line at the 2025 Oscars, being both the most nominated (13 nods) and the most controversial film. The furore around lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón and her resurfaced social media posts was also going to stunt the film’s success at the ceremony, and it seems it did: it managed to bag just two of its 13 nominations (Best Original Song for “El Mal” and Best Supporting Actress for Zoë Saldaña).
Loss: Cynthia Erivo
It seems that Cynthia Erivo couldn’t defy the Oscars odds, as the queer Wicked star didn’t manage to bag the Best Actress gong. Industry experts didn’t expect Erivo to take home the award, as it seemed like a race between Anora’s Mikey Madison (she previously won the BAFTA) and The Substance’s Demi Moore (who bagged the Golden Globe and the SAG Award). Ultimately, it went to Madison. Deserved, for sure, although it would have been wonderful to see Erivo make Oscars herstory as a winner – she would’ve become the youngest ever EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony award) holder.
Loss: Colman Domingo
Colman Domingo sadly didn’t seem to be in the running for the Best Actor accolade, despite his sublime turn in prison drama Sing Sing. The race appeared to be between Conclave’s Ralph Fiennes and The Brutalist’s Adrien Brody, with Brody eventually taking the win. Not that gay star Domingo should be bitter – he was nominated for the leading gong two years in a row, which is pretty stellar going.
Loss: Karla Sofía Gascón
It all started so well for Karla Sofía Gascón last year, when she became the first transgender actress to win the Best Actress accolade at Cannes Film Festival. She made history with numerous other nominations, including at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, and then became the first ever transgender woman nominated in the Oscars’ Best Actress category. And then the tweets. Oh, the tweets. After those, Gascón was never going to score the Best Actress win. But at least, after tonight, we can try and pretend this sorry mess never happened.
Loss: “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late
Where one LGBTQ+ film wins, another falls: Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s “Never Too Late”, from John’s recent documentary Never Too Late, was nominated for Best Original Song, but lost out to Emilia Pérez song, “El Mal”.
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