RuPaul Makes Herstory at the Creative Emmy Awards

While there was a scattering of nominees at the Golden Globes for LBGTQ+ individuals or story lines, they were pretty much ignored when the winners were announced. Not so at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony that took place this past weekend in Los Angeles over two nights due to the number of awards that honored artistic and technical achievement in American television programming that premiered between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023.

The awards were so numerous that the show was broken up into two parts: The Saturday Creative Arts show focused primarily on scripted programming. A second show, on Sunday, will be dedicated to crafts in reality, unscripted and documentary programming.

Both ceremonies are the precursor to the main event - The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards -- which this year takes place on the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, Monday night, 15 January, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It will be telecast live for US viewers on the Fox network starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and available to stream the following day on Hulu. Both ceremonies were moved to January from last Spring due to the actors' strike.

An edited presentation of this past weekend's awards Creative Arts Emmys will air Saturday, Jan. 13, at 8:00 PM EST/PST on FXX and be available for streaming on Hulu on Sunday, Jan. 14.

Why both ceremonies are in January was due to the recent actors' strike that pushed them back from last Spring.

But unlike the Golden Globes, it was a big weekend for queer television. As GLAAD reports, the winners included such queer-themed shows as "The Last of Us," "The White Lotus," "Queer Eye," "We're Here," and "Only Murders in the Building." The live concert special "Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium" won awards in two technical categories.

It was RuPaul, though, who made "herstory"!

"RuPaul not only won the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program, but also secured his reigning title as the most decorated series host in Emmy history. The 'RuPaul's Drag Race' host and producer has won this award 8 years in a row and is the record holder for most wins by a person of color," writes GLAAD.

"Ru gave a moving speech about how it is important to remain strong in these difficult times for queer people. 'I want to tell all these kids out here in the business, remember who you are. Do not give up. Stick with it, kiddo, and remember who you are.' He went on to say, 'I'm so proud to be a part of this medium, you invited me to be a part of this. You are my family.'"

"RuPaul's Drag Race" also won the award for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality Or Competition Program.

HBO Max's breakout series dystopian sci-fi "The Two of Us" took home eight awards. The show stars nonbinary lead actor Bella Ramsey, as well as a deeply moving episode about an aging gay couple finding love amidst the apocalypse. The episode, "Long, Long Time," featured Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman. At the awards, Offerman took home the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series; and Storm Reid, who played Ramsey's love interest also won the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

For its seventh season, the
GLAAD Media Award winning Netflix series Queer Eye, starring out stars Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Jonathan Van Ness was named Outstanding Structured Reality Program.

The GLAAD Media Award winning HBO series "We're Here", which aims to bring drag and acceptance to small towns across the US, was awarded Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program.

Two queer fan favorites – "The White Lotus" and "Only Murders in the Building" won awards respectively for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour).

And LGBTQ ally and GLAAD's 2022 Excellence in Media honoree Judith Light won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Peacock's "Poker Face."