Country United States | First awarded 2009 | |
Presented by Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association | ||
The Dorian Awards are an annual endeavor organized by the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA). GALECA is a national association of professional journalists and critics covering film and television for print, online and broadcast outlets in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. As of January 2017, GALECA counted over 170 members in its ranks.
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The Dorian Awards are given to the group's choices for the finest in film and television accessible in the U.S., across a variety of categories, from general to LGBTQ-centric. In addition to more traditional categories such as Film of the Year and TV Comedy of the Year, Dorians are given to more unusual categories, including Unsung TV Show of the Year, Visually Striking Film of the Year and Campy Flick of the Year, an honor that has generated some amusement from the press.
Rather than present an official awards ceremony, GALECA hosts its annual "Winners Toast," an informal afternoon party in Los Angeles for members, winners, nominees and associates usually held within a week after the Academy Awards. The event is held several weeks after the winners are announced.
As with other critics circles, GALECA has no entry process for its awards per se, though the organization has its nomination requirements. Considered films must have had at minimum a limited theatrical release of one week during the given year. Documentary of the Year nominations can either be film, TV (including online) or DVD releases.
Trivia
Honorary GALECA members and advisors include esteemed former film critic Kevin Thomas, celebrated columnist Michael Musto, groundbreaking lesbian journalist Judy Wieder (former editor-in-chief of The Advocate), and professor of literature Joseph Bristow, one of the world's leading authorities on Oscar Wilde.
GALECA's Dorian Award certificate includes GALECA's trademark black bow tie.
The Dorian Award is named in honor of the writer Oscar Wilde, in reference to his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
To commemorate the 2015 film and TV awards season, GALECA revealed its first "Ten Best" list, The Ten Best Movies About the Academy Awards. Included were such films as The Oscar, California Suite, For Your Consideration and The Bodyguard. More recently, the group's lists include the Ten Best LGBTQ Movies Every Straight Person Should See and Ten Best Actresses of All Time.
James Franco, recipient of GALECA's special Wilde Artist of the Year award in 2013, thanked the group by posting a mini art piece noting his honor on Instagram.
George Takei, the gay rights activist and costar of the TV series Star Trek, thanked GALECA in a YouTube video for naming him their 2014 choice for Timeless Star, the association's career achievement award.
History
GALECA and its annual Dorian Awards were founded in 2008 in Hollywood, California, by John Griffiths, television critic for Us Weekly magazine and longtime contributor to Emmy magazine of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
The first Dorian Awards, for 2009 productions, were announced in January 2010 (nominees were revealed the previous month). GALECA's Dorian Award nominees and winners for 2010 productions were announced in January 2011. Following suit, 2011's Dorian Award nominees and ultimate honorees were revealed in January 2012. The Dorian nominees and winners for 2012 productions were announced in January 2013, and so on.