Nathan Lee Graham, Megan Stalter Honored at CCA's 2nd Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television
Nathan Lee Graham, Megan Stalter Honored at CCA's 2nd Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
Performers, creators, producers and writers from film, television and streaming platforms walked the rainbow carpet upon arrival at the festive Fairmont Century Plaza for the Critics Choice Association's 2nd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on Friday, June 6.The event, hosted by Sherry Cola, brought together actors, writers, trailblazers and allies from across the entertainment industry — both in front of and behind the camera — to honor the diverse voices shaping our world today.Los Angeles magazine's June cover star Nathan Lee Graham of Mid-Century Modern received the first award of the night, the Vanguard Award. "I think this is quite appropriate that I should be first," he began. "First of all, as one of the senior members of this tribe ... one doesn't want to fall asleep. Secondly, I can start drinking!"
He then turned more serious in discussing the meaning of the term Vanguard: "[People] leading the way on the forefront of new ideas, the foremost part of an advancing army: We are soldiers of love, and we use our weapons of joy: whit, glamour and tenacity, to overcome any and all obstacles put before us." Graham finished: "All of the content that is represented here tonight is valid and worthy and needed," he said to applause. "Let's keep it up, let's keep it CUTE, let's keep it relevant and let's keep it moving!"
Next, Megan Stalter — also honored in Los Angeles magazine's June issue, and the star of Hacks as well as the upcoming Lena Dunham show, Too Much — recited a handwritten speech from a piece of paper upon winning the Breakthrough Performance Award."God, I look so beautiful tonight!" began Stalter, who received a bouquet of flowers and donned a tiara and sash. "I just can't believe it! This award is such a surprise to me. I'm in shock that a country bumpkin brunette made her way all the way to Hollywood and now I'm accepting the award for best gay actor of all time!" "This will be the first of many of course, because I'm so talented and wonderful to work with," she continued. "I wish I could have prepared a speech, but I'm so surprised, laid-back and chill about this! The truth is, I will always see myself as this genius, incredible, perfect, once-in-a-lifetime ingenue that you all see me as!"
She went on: "I'm just a girl who walked into HBO Max, sat down, and said, 'I want to make history.' And that's what we did." She also thanked God — "The Christian god, I'm not kidding, it's okay to be Christian and gay, by the way" — and noted how great it is "to not have to hide parts of ourselves." "It's exciting, beautiful and okay to be different," Stalter finished, "and also, I'm playing Kayla as gay!"
Other honorees included Michael Urie, who won Trailblazer Award for Shrinking ("I was actively encouraged to stay in the closet even after playing Mark St. James on Ugly Betty," he noted); Niecy Nash-Betts, who won the Groundbreaker Award for Grotesquerie; Bowen Yang, who received the Comedy Award for Saturday Night Live; Tramell Tillman, who received the Supporting Performance Award – Drama Series for Severance; and Liv Hewson, who received the Rising Star Award for Yellowjackets.
To close the night, Wanda Sykes received the Career Achievement Award. 'I believe that's what our community does, we take care of each other," she said. "I know that love is stronger than hate … We gotta be prouder, we gotta be louder, we have to protect our trans brothers and sisters … that's our next movement.'
Sponsors for the event included Here Media, IMDbPro and Milagro Tequila, and event partners included FIJI Water and NEP Sweetwater. The show will stream on HereTV — the first and largest LGBTQ+ television and streaming service in the U.S. — during Pride Month in June.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
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Women Who've Rejected Marriage Proposals Are Sharing Exactly Why They Said No, And Honestly, Thank Goodness They Did
Reddit user rosieposiepoo333 recently asked, "Women who have turned down proposals, how did you do it?" We also asked women of the BuzzFeed Community to chime in with their stories. Here's what they shared: 1."I broke up with my ex on the day we were supposed to go ring shopping. He tearfully told me how he had inherited enough money from his great aunt to buy the ring of my dreams, and I told him it didn't matter because our relationship wasn't meant to be. It was not an actual proposal, but the closest I got to marriage before I met my now-husband." —question_girl617 2."It wasn't pleasant. I walked him further down the beach and explained why the proposal failed. They were things we agreed upon, or so I thought. We wanted and agreed on a private moment, but he invited everybody. We wanted something very quiet, but he had a whole band playing and photographers. I wanted a simple, low-key necklace, maybe something simple with moonstone, mother of pearl, or opal, which he seemed excited about. But he gave me a very expensive amber chunky ring with a dead bug in it. Only our entomology friend liked the ring; everyone else was very confused or grossed out." "Then I asked him to try again. He took it well until he saw our friends. Then he sobbed loudly and complained to everybody about how I rejected him. We were engaged for like eight years. He never tried again, by the way." —Not-A-SoggyBagel 3."I did it in the worst way. I said, 'That will never happen.' To be fair, we were not in love; he was my boss, and he told me he had a list of things he looked for in a woman, and I checked off the boxes." —After-Carpenter-4089 4."It was the wrong ring. I know that sounds super shallow, but I have a very specific ring in mind and am very vocal about it. My friends know, my family knows, my colleagues know. There is no hiding my particular style. I like yellow gold, and I detest diamonds. Anything that fit that description would have worked. Instead, I ended up with a sterling silver ring with the ugliest cut diamond I have ever seen. My partner was obviously not listening to me and had not discussed proposing to me with my father (I'm a little traditional) or my friends. So I said no. Now, I'm in a relationship with a man who has already talked to me about ring choices, discussed his engagement plan with my closest friends, and had the conversation with BOTH of my parents regarding the proposal and his plans to marry me." —Anonymous 5."I was proposed to three times before I met the man I eventually married. In those days, a proposal was considered a private moment between two people, not a public performance. In each case, I told them that, while I cared for them and was honored that they cared enough for me to want to marry me, I did not think we had the foundation for a compatible and happy marriage. In all three cases, they were not surprised that I said no. They were just hopeful that, if I saw how serious they were, I might be more willing to compromise on what I wanted for my future." —readbackcorrect 6."It was not in public, and it was not done politely. A lot happened between us, and it was mostly not good. I may have laughed and told him that he'd lost his mind, and maybe he should've asked one of his side pieces (he didn't know I knew). I knew he was never going to be the person I married. He was toxic, and he turned me into the worst version of myself, and I was finally starting to see it. He just didn't realize the same thing." —GiveMeAlienRomances 7."My ex gave me a ring that he picked up from his mom's house as she was going through her jewelry and getting rid of some stuff. The ring itself was the same engagement ring she had received from my ex's dad when they first got married, but then they divorced years later because he cheated on her with his secretary (whom he then married). So the ring itself was already haunted with a terrible origin story, and it was also missing several stones and was way too big for my finger. My ex gave it to me and said he wanted to 'fix it up' for me. We had only been together for about six months, and I had to tell him I didn't want to get married to him, and also, the ring was not one I'd ever wear. It wasn't a public conversation, but it was still one I didn't want to be a part of." —msnegative 8."My ex proposed AFTER I had broken up with him and moved out. I had found out he was hiring sex workers. I had gone to the house to pick up some things, and he got down on one knee and held out a ring. I rolled my eyes and told him to F off." —squirrelly_chaos 9."The guy I was dating just kind of assumed we'd be getting married, and I'd follow him to his next job. To be fair, I was kind of up in the air, but I was planning to go to grad school and just hadn't shared that with him. When he asked me when, not if, I wanted to get married, I flippantly said, 'I'm not marrying you.' He was shocked. We were not on the same page at all!" —Hazelstone37 10."We were in a restaurant, and a violinist appeared. A box was produced containing a ring. We were in a relationship, and had been for about a year and a half. He was a sweet guy, but nine years younger than I. I said no and explained that we weren't there yet. He was sad. Within a year, he was showing signs of a nervous breakdown. I had no idea what was happening. He became incredibly paranoid, and his behavior became very strange. Turns out he had a crack problem. I had never taken drugs other than trying weed as a teen, so I wasn't able to read the signs correctly. He was doing it at night when I went to bed. That was the end of that." —Poullafouca 11."My partner has 'proposed' four times to me and I've always said no. He proposed the first time after two years of being together. I said no because we were long-distance at the time. Then I finally got a job near his place, so we moved in together, and I soon got pregnant. We had our son, and our relationship turned very sour. I think we both had postpartum depression. This is when he decided to propose for the second time. Of course, I said no. We worked on our relationship. It took us a very long time, but we managed to get through our problems — at least it felt like it. Fast forward seven years, and we got pregnant with our second son. I thought we were in a good place, but I found out he was chatting with other women during the first few months I was pregnant with our second son. When I confronted him, after a week of arguments, we agreed to go to a restaurant to have a 'neutral' place to talk, without our sons, and he proposed again. I said no." "It's been eight years since then, and I've been in survival mode for my sons. He proposed once again last year. The ring has changed, but not my answer. As I type this, I realize how toxic we are for one another, and we are both to blame. I guess he proposes to me for the wrong reasons, and I keep saying no because I probably know deep down he's not the one for me, and I'm not the one for him. We've been together 19 years; our sons are nearly 16 and 9. The proposals were always casual, but they always came with a ring. I'm turning 40, and I know my sons deserve better because both my partner and I are unhappy in our silent relationship." —Anonymous 12."I knew he was planning to propose because I overheard him talking to his mother about redesigning family heirloom rings. I wasn't sure how much I even liked him, let alone if I'd commit to marrying him! I tried to talk to him about how good it was to take things slowly, but a week later, the proposal came regardless. I said how I felt honored by the rings, but couldn't accept them because it felt too soon for me, and then I returned them. He became very pushy, saying things like I was just overwhelmed, and of course, I wanted to be with him forever. I said I wasn't overwhelmed, I just didn't think he was 'the one.' It was sudden, and we hadn't even discussed our core beliefs." "He said I'd never get anyone better than him, and he'd give me a week to think about it. I had many possessions at his house but packed everything and left when he went to work. He was furious, so I stopped taking his calls. I spent the next decade dating, loving, and losing, and then I found a guy I knew I had a good future with. We've been married 28 years and he is MUCH better than him, who, interestingly, never got married." —Maclardy44 13."We were at IHOP. I told him to shut up and eat his pancakes. A couple of months later, he was banging my mom." —busterann 14."He proposed in public, but it wasn't a grand gesture. We were eating out, and he quietly asked. I told him I wasn't ready (we had been having problems beforehand). The problems got worse, and we finally broke up. He's been living with someone else longer than he and I were together, and they aren't married." —Loisgrand6 15."I smiled, held his hand, and said no. It was high school, he was a year above me, and we were on a school group spring break. I explained that we were way too young to even consider it. He pressed and tried to give me the ring as a promise ring, and I still shook my head and told him to get a refund for the ring and use it towards food (his family wasn't doing well)." "The second one I struggled with. 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I had to get a new phone number because of all the voicemails and texts. I've been married to the other guy for over 18 years." —Anonymous 17."We'd been broken up for about a year. It was a bad breakup, and that was his choice. I'd moved back home for a part of the time (another state, 2,000 miles away), and he worked hard to get me to move back to where we'd met and lived. Within five minutes of picking me up, he proposed in the car while driving. In all seriousness. I said I wasn't ready to talk about that. Apart from the whole breakup/get back together thing, I was 23 and am not keen on marriage in general. It never came up again. We broke up for good about a year later, which made sense to both of us. He greatly impacted my life, but I have no regrets. He's been married and divorced a couple of times since. I had a partner for 20 years. Neither of us was into marriage." —bootsbythedoor 18."My ex dropped down on one knee on a beach in Mexico during a Christmas vacation. 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