Welcome to the 3rd Annual POZ Awards, which spotlight the best representations of HIV/AIDS in media and culture.
The POZ editorial staff selects the nominees, but POZ readers choose the winners.
Eligible nominees were active or were presented, published or produced between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018.
Be sure to vote for your favorite nominees by the World AIDS Day deadline: Saturday, December 1, 2018. DEADLINE EXTENDED: Saturday, December 8!
Here are the nominees:
Pose has offered such dramatic riches to its audience, and that includes Porter as Pray Tell, the MC of the spectacular ballroom competition between houses in this 1980s drama. His character is the historical gay touchstone of the show, demonstrating how gay men cared for one another in intensive care wards while anxiously living with HIV themselves.
Édgar Ramírez (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Ramírez ‘s performance as Versace walked a dramatic high wire many of us know very well: Versace was facing death in the early 1990s only to be rescued by new HIV combination therapies. Ramírez captured the realization of long-term survivors that a new life lay ahead of them — and the renewed vigor and direction that came with it.
The lead actress in the hit FX series conveys not only the lived experience of trans women, but the anxiety of testing HIV positive in the late 1980s. Her portrayal of Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista, the loving mother of the House of Evangelista, gives us a character — and an actress — to put our faith in.
As a gay man living with HIV returning home to make peace with a troubled childhood and family history, Smith is quietly devastating in this criminally underseen independent film.
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