With awards season at its peak, the 2025 Oscars nominations have finally been unveiled, with LGBTQ+ talent among those being recognised. The long-awaited announcement was due last week, but the voting period had to be extended due to the Los Angeles wildfires. 

However, without further delay, the highly anticipated 2025 Oscars nominees were revealed on Thursday, January 23 and have been met with delight from the queer community.

At the forefront is Emilia Pérez, Netflix’s trans musical, which dominates with 13 nominations. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the film’s star Karla Sofía Gascón makes history as the first trans woman to be nominated in an acting category.

Gascón is up for Actress in a Leading Role, competing against fellow LGBTQ+ star Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), as well as Demi Moore (The Substance), Mickey Madison (Anora), and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here).

Wicked itself earned 10 2025 Oscars nominations, with the musical establishing itself as a standout of the season. Ariana Grande received her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda the Good Witch. 

Colman Domingo has received his second Best Actor nod in three years. this time for Sing Sing. The gay actor plays the character Divine G, an inmate at the titular prison, convicted for a crime he didn’t commit. 

The animated film Memoir of a Snail has been nominated for Best Animated Feature. Its creator, Adam Elliot, made history some years ago by becoming the first gay filmmaker to receive an Oscar in the Best Animated Short category for his 2016 production, Harvie Krumpet. 

Other LGBTQ+ works were included in categories such as Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Song, and Best Editing, which again featured Wicked and Emilia Pérez.  

On the hand, some LGBTQ+ fans have expressed disappointment over the lack of nominations for Queer.

Sadly, there was also a lack of Irish talent recognised. A number of Irish works were hoping to get selected across several categories, including Kneecap, a musical biopic about the West Belfast rap trio of the same name, which has enjoyed massive success in Ireland and abroad. 

However, The Apprentice, a controversial biopic about Donald Trump’s early years in business which was partially produced by Irish company Tailored Films, has received Oscars nominations for Best Actor (Sebastian Stan) and Best Supporting Actor (Jeremy Strong).

The nominations were announced by LGBTQ+ comedian Bowen Yang, known for Wicked and Saturday Night Live (SNL), alongside Rachel Sennott from Bottoms and Shiva Baby. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2 and will be hosted by US comedian Conan O’Brien.