Hallmark Channel to premiere first holiday romantic comedy centered on a gay couple
In 2019, LGBTQ Nation published an essay urging the networks to include more diversity in their holiday programming.
Arts, music, literature & entertainment
Ashley Callingbull becomes first Indigenous woman in iconic Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition
The Enoch Cree woman said that being featured as a proud, independent Indigenous woman in such a well-known magazine is a way to highlight a population that often is ignored or silenced.
U.S. to return Gilgamesh tablet and 17,000 other looted artifacts to Iraq
The U.S. will return more than 17,000 ancient artifacts, including the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, after authorities recently reached a repatriation agreement with Baghdad to return artifacts seized from dealers and museums.
Museum in Dubai is first in the Arab world to exhibit Holocaust memorial
According to the museum’s founder, Ahmed Obaid AlMansoori, the opening of the museum is timely, as parts of the Middle East region open up and there is an effort being made towards normalizing relations between countries.
Germany to return 19th century looted art to Nigeria
The announcement was made by the country’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, who said Germany will start the restitution of a “substantial” part of the artifacts held in its museums to Nigeria, starting next year.
Chloé Zhao is the first woman of color to win an Oscar for Best Director
The Nomadland director was also the first woman to get four Oscar nominations in a single year, in ‘best film editing,’ ‘best-adapted screenplay,’ ‘best director,’ and ‘best picture’ categories.
The new characters in the Sesame Street cast are refugees
To help alleviate the distress of Rohingya refugee children and provide them with early years of education, Sesame Street will feature two new Rohingya characters in its programs shown in refugee camps.
Disney makes history with first LGBTQ+ lead character in The Owl House
The Disney Channel show follows Luz Noceda, a 14-year-old Dominican-American girl who stumbles into an alternate world where she battles witches and demons and other forces of evil.
First-ever Native American-owned film studio opens in New Mexico
The Tesuque Pueblo tribe of New Mexico has launched Camel Rock Studios, which lays claim as the first movie studio owned by a Native American tribe in the history of Hollywood.
New Jersey becomes first state in the U.S. to provide universal access to arts education
Universal access means all public schools provide some form of arts education and every student has the opportunity to participate in arts education programs as part of the regular school day.