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Boston Globe

The Blackest queerest Academy Awards ever

Even before the official show started, there was Colman Domingo, resplendent as usual, smiling and posing with his husband, Raúl, on the red carpet. After an opening medley of songs from various musical iterations of 'The Wizard of Oz' with Ariana Grande, her 'Wicked' costar and fellow Oscar nominee, Something has changed within me Something is not the same I'm through with playing by The rules of someone else's game Sitting in the front row, Erivo attended the ceremony with her girlfriend, Lena Waithe, an award-winning writer, director, and producer. Perhaps the best thing is that none of this was a big deal. Except that it was. Advertisement Since I didn't watch the show, I found out about these events in the news and on social media the following day. I wish I could have experienced the awe of watching it in real time. I inherited my parents' vast love of the movies and, as a child, I would sneak out of bed to watch the Oscars. But as much as I loved the show, I was also aware that too few people on that stage looked like me. Never could that queer kid have imagined such a celebration of Black queer excellence before the eyes of the world. I'm buoyed by the fact that hopefully no child seeking their reflection in a society that deifies whiteness and heterosexuality will ever have to look as hard or as long as I did to find it. But I don't want to overlook the serendipitous timing of the show. This unabashed display of queer Black people unfolded as the Musk/Trump administration continues its wholesale erasure of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the federal government — and seemingly anywhere else where they find people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community. The talent, the range, and especially the jubilation on that stage was a sharp rebuke to the extremes of an administration fueled by a nauseating brew of malice, white supremacy, and white male fragility. Though it clings to everything it touches, no one at the awards needed to call out its hate by name. The inspiring presence of Erivo, Domingo, Tazewell — and the stony road each probably took to deliver them to that night — was the kind of resistance that said more than words ever could. Advertisement Joy is an act of defiance and a thing of beauty. And that wondrous display of Black queerness at the Academy Awards must thrive in our own lives as a bulwark against these days of midnight. We will not be erased. We have always been. And we will always be rising and defying gravity. This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Renée Graham. . Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at