This list details the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people who have been nominated for or received Academy Awards and/or cis-hetero actors who have been nominated for or won for playing queer characters. Individuals are identified as queer, though they may not have publicly or personally identified at the time of their nomination.
The following list is composed of actors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of actresses who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of actors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
Note: Nominated for his performance in 2024's The Brutalist, Guy Pearce's character rapes his male protagonist. However, the action transpires in an ambiguous manner, leaving the audience to interpret whether the character is in fact gay or bisexual or if the attack is a narrative scheme supposed to highlight the power dynamics between protagonist and antagonist.
The following list is composed of actresses who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of directors who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either while alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of producers who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The following list is composed of writers who have been claimed to be LGBT by others. They have been outed by a third party either alive or after their death. However, they never publicly came out.
The Governors Awards are an annual ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences dedicated to honor actors and filmmakers with lifetime achievement awards. Three awards are given: the Academy Honorary Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Unlike the Academy Awards, the nominations and voting for these awards are restricted to members of the Board of Governors of AMPAS.
The Academy Honorary Award honors exceptional career achievements, contributions to the motion picture industry, and service to the academy. The Academy Honorary Award is often awarded in preference to those with noted achievements in motion pictures who have nevertheless never won an Academy Award. Thus, many of its recipients are Classic Hollywood stars, such as Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, and Lauren Bacall.
Among its Honorary Awards for acting, the academy also presents deserving young actors with the Special Juvenile Academy Award. (Most of those are not listed here; some of the early "Special Awards" that later became known in that acting category as the "Special Juvenile Academy Award" are listed with "Special Award" added parenthetically.)
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award honors an individual's outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes.
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award honors creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.