Star Trek: Discovery wins GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series

(L-R) Anthony Rapp, Ian Alexander, Blu del Barrio and Wilson Cruz accept the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series on behalf of Star Trek: Discovery

APRIL 11, 2021 - Star Trek: Discovery has won the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series. The virtual awards ceremony was held last Thursday, April 8th, and we learned about Discovery’s win from TrekCore.com. This is the second nomination for Star Trek: Discovery, and the first win for the series.

Each year, the GLAAD Media Awards seek to honor media programming which presents an accurate, inclusive and fair representation of the LGBTQ community and its issues. The latest season of Star Trek: Discovery saw non-binary actor Blu del Barrio and transgender actor Ian Alexander joining the cast, alongside Trek’s first on-screen gay couple, Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz. All four actors were present to accept the award on behalf of the series.

In the acceptance video, Cruz opened by saying, “We are so proud and thrilled to be receiving this honor [...] Thank you to all of our friends [at GLAAD] for supporting us, promoting us, and consulting with us to bring to life this story of our beautiful chosen family in space.”

According to Blu del Barrio, they joined the cast of Discovery soon after “beginning to understand and accept [their] own gender identity”. For del Barrio, stepping into the role of Adira was a bit of a blessing in disguise. “It felt like a real gift from the universe to get to play this smart and self-assured character, [someone] who is existing in a time where being trans and nonbinary is completely accepted.” Ian Alexander echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Our community is being seen the way that we want to be, the way that we finally deserve to be — as our most authentic selves.”

Season four of Star Trek: Discovery is currently in production, but the first three seasons - including the latest, GLAAD Award-winning one - are available to watch in full on Paramount+.