Ariana Grande has long been an ally to the LGBTQ community, and the feeling appears to be mutual.
At the 2025 Dorian Awards, presented by GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, the pop superstar won the award for supporting film performance of the year. She beat, among others, Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez, who appears to be her main rival for the Oscar for best supporting actress.
Grande’s Wicked co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey won awards too. Erivo (who is also Oscar-nominated, but in the best actress category) won here for GALECA LGBTQIA+ film trailblazer. Bailey won the “we’re wilde about you!” rising star award.
The body-horror movie The Substance won a leading five trophies, including two that almost never go together at award shows: film of the year and campiest flick. The film’s other awards were film performance of the year for Demi Moore, director of the year for Coralie Fargeat and genre film of the year (science fiction/fantasy/horror). In addition, Moore received the timeless star award, a non-competitive career achievement prize. Previous timeless star honorees include Jodie Foster, Jane Fonda, Nathan Lane, John Waters, Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, George Takei and Ian McKellen.
There were three double winners: I Saw the TV Glow (LGBTQ film of the year and LGBTQ screenplay of the year for Jane Schoenbrun), Will & Harper (documentary of the year and LGBTQ documentary of the year), and Challengers (screenplay of the year for Justin Kuritzkes and film music of the year for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Reznor and Ross’ score was passed over for an Oscar nod, but has received numerous other awards, including a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award. Here, it beat three scores that did receive Oscar nods: The Brutalist (Daniel Blumberg), Emilia Pérez (Clément Ducol and Camille) and Wicked (John Powell and Stephen Schwartz).
Founded in 2009, GALECA annually honors the best in film, television and stage, with an eye on the LGBTQIA+ community. Its goal is to “remind bigots, bullies, and our own beleaguered communities that the world looks to the informed Q+ eye on entertainment.”
Here is the complete 2025 Dorian Awards winners list:
Film of the year
Anora (Neon)
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
WINNER: The Substance (Mubi)
LGBTQ film of the year
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
WINNER: I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Queer (A24)
Film performance of the year
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (A24)
Daniel Craig, Queer (A24)
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (A24)
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked (Universal)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl (A24)
Mikey Madison, Anora (Neon)
WINNER: Demi Moore, The Substance (Mubi)
Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Supporting film performance of the year
Michele Austin, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Yura Borisov, Anora (Neon)
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
WINNER: Ariana Grande, Wicked (Universal)
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
Jack Haven, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (A24)
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (A24)
Margaret Qualley, The Substance (Mubi)
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Director of the year
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist (A24)
WINNER: Coralie Fargeat, The Substance (Mubi)
Luca Guadagnino, Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Screenplay of the year
Sean Baker, Anora (Neon)
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance (Mubi)
WINNER: Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Peter Straughan, Conclave (Focus Features)
LGBTQ screenplay of the year
Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska, Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Justin Kuritzkes, Queer (A24)
WINNER: Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Julio Torres, Problemista (A24)
Film music of the year
The Brutalist (A24) — Daniel Blumberg
WINNER: Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Emilia Pérez (Netflix) — Clément Ducol and Camille
I Saw the TV Glow (A24) — Alex G
Wicked (Universal) — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, et al.
Non-English language film of the year
All We Imagine as Light (Sideshow / Janus Films)
Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
WINNER: I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon)
LGBTQ non-English film of the year
Crossing (Mubi)
WINNER: Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
Vermiglio (Sideshow / Janus Films)
All Shall Be Well (Strand Releasing)
Unsung film of the year
Didi (Focus Features)
Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
WINNER: Problemista (A24)
Thelma (Magnolia)
Unsung LGBTQ film of the year
Femme (Utopia)
My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
National Anthem (Variance, LD Entertainment)
WINNER: The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence)
Problemista (A24)
Documentary of the year
Dahomey (Mubi)
Daughters (Netflix)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
WINNER: Will & Harper (Netflix)
LGBTQ documentary of the year
Chasing Chasing Amy (Level 33)
Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
Merchant Ivory (Cohen Media Group)
Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
WINNER: Will & Harper (Netflix)
Animated film of the year
WINNER: Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
Inside Out 2 (Disney)
Memoir of a Snail (IFC Films)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
The Wild Robot (Universal, DreamWorks)
Genre film of the year (science fiction, fantasy and horror)
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Nosferatu (Focus Features)
WINNER: The Substance (Mubi)
Wicked (Universal)
Visually striking film of the year
The Brutalist (A24)
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
Nosferatu (Focus Features)
WINNER: Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
The Substance (Mubi)
Campiest flick
Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
Madame Web (Sony)
Megalopolis (Lionsgate)
WINNER: The Substance (Mubi)
Trap (Warner Bros.)
“We’re wilde about you!” rising star award
WINNER: Jonathan Bailey
Vera Drew
Karla Sofía Gascón
Jack Haven
Mikey Madison
Katy O’Brian
Drew Starkey
Wilde artist award
WINNER: Colman Domingo
Luca Guadagnino
Coralie Fargeat
Jane Schoenbrun
Tilda Swinton
GALECA LGBTQIA+ film trailblazer
Vera Drew
WINNER: Cynthia Erivo
Luca Guadagnino
Jane Schoenbrun
Julio Torres
Timeless star (career achievement award)
WINNER: Demi Moore
