Here are the LGBTQ highlights of the 2018 Oscars

While Call Me By Your Name sadly didn’t score the Best Picture statue at the 2018 Academy Awards on Sunday, there were plenty of memorable LGBTQ moments.

Call Me By Your Name, a gay coming of age love story, had four nominations, but ultimately only won one; for best Adapted Screenplay by James Ivory.

As he took to the stage with a cane, the 89-year-old openly gay writer, producer and director became the oldest person to ever win an Oscar.

Ivory is also known for his acclaimed work with his late professional and romantic partner of 45 years, Ismail Merchant, on iconic films like A Room with a View, Maurice and The Remains of the Day.

In his acceptance speech, Ivory thanked the director and cast of Call Me By Your Name, and acknowledged “the inspired help I received from my life’s partners, who are gone”.

He also commented that the film’s subject of first loves is a universal one, “whether gay, straight or somewhere in between,” adding, “We’ve all gone through first love, I hope…”

Another of the night’s winners was A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica), which took home the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The Chilean production tells the story of a transgender woman and the ordeal she suffers after her partner unexpectedly dies.

It’s significant that the title role of Marina is played by a transgender actress, Daniela Vega. She also had the honour of introducing a performance by Sufjan Stevens, one of the nominees for Best Original Song for Mystery of Love, from Call Me By Your Name.

This made Vega the first openly transgender Oscar presenter in the awards’ 90-year existence.

On the red carpet, figure skater Adam Rippon, who recently became the first openly gay American male athlete to win a medal in a Winter Olympics, made a splash thanks to his S&M-inspired outfit.

We’re not quite sure why he and other Olympic stars were invited to the Academy Awards to be honest, but we’re glad they were. Rippon wore an edgy cropped black tuxedo jacket with a leather chest harness, designed by Moschino’s Jeremy Scott, that got social media talking.

The Shape of Water, a love story between a woman and a captured humanoid sea creature, which won the coveted Best Picture award, also has an important LGBTQ connection. Guillermo del Toro’s film features a supporting character, Giles (played by actor Richard Jenkins), a gay man facing isolation and homophobia in 1960s America who helps the film’s heroine and her lover.

Having a leather moment at #oscars2018

A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp) on Mar 4, 2018 at 9:32pm PST