As the media landscape at large continues to move away from queer narratives in response to political headwinds, Linda Simensky and shows from Disney and Sinking Ship Entertainment are among this year’s Velma Award winners for LGBTQ+ representation in kids shows.

Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins), Kristi Reed (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts) and media exec Jeremy Blacklow launched this awards program in 2024. This year, former Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and PBS KIDS leader Linda Simensky won the Legacy Award for her career-long commitment to kids programming—and especially her role in championing 2019’s groundbreaking Arthur episode featuring a gay wedding.

Other 2025 winners include DreamWorks Animation’s Netflix series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, which features queer relationships; Sinking Ship Entertainment’s Jane for Apple TV+, which stars a character with two dads; and Lopii Productions’ The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy (pictured), hosted by drag performers Fay Slift (JP Kane) and Fluffy Soufflé (Kaleb Robertson). There’s no ceremony scheduled for the Velmas this year, but the plan is to expand the event in future years.

This year’s program feels more urgently relevant, says Reed, since there hasn’t been much progress in getting more representative shows on air, and some existing ones are under fire or being cancelled.

“Since the beginning of this year, with the current administration, we have witnessed a pullback on queer stories and characters on television and streaming services,” said Blacklow in a release. “Whereas in 2024 we had a plethora of honorees, this year our numbers [were] basically cut in half.”

Released in September, the Geena Davis Institute’s 2025 children’s TV report noted that LGBTQ+ characters made up only 1.1% of all characters in kids programming last year (up from 1.0% in 2023). Meanwhile, GLAAD’s latest Where We Are on TV 2024-2025 study counted a total of 489 LGBTQ characters on TV, a 4% increase year over year—but more than 200 of them won’t be returning because their shows were cancelled.

In October, conservative billionaire Elon Musk used his platform X to encourage his 200 million-plus followers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions because the platform streams series that include LGBTQ+ characters. He specifically targeted Dead End: Paranormal Park from Netflix Animation and Blink Industries. Also in the last year, Pixar scrapped a transgender story arc from Win or Lose and pulled queer themes from Elio; and Disney pulled an episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that focused on a trans character (though it’s worth noting that the studio produces Firebuds, which won a Velma this year).

“Children’s animation is seeing LGBTQ+ narratives pulled back at a moment when kids need visibility the most,” says Reed. “I know it’s a hard time for everyone, but when studios and their executives stay silent or fold under pressure, that silence becomes complicit in erasing marginalized communities from the media that shapes young minds. And that erasure lays the groundwork for another generation to inherit fear, bias and hate.”

Here are this year’s Velma Award winners:

Legacy Award – Linda Simensky

The Best Queer Break-Up That’s Just a Break-Up Award – Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (Scott Kreamer)

The One Mom is Good But Two Moms Are Great Award – Firebuds (Craig Gerber)

The Show So Great and Inclusive We Wish it Would Adopt Us Award – Let’s Go, Bananas! (Tim Bain)

The Respecting Pronouns & Gender Identity is So Simple Even a Preschooler Can Understand it Award – The Bravest Knight (Daniel Errico)

The Most Adorkable Dads Who Say “I Love You” Award – Jane (J.J. Johnson)

The Most Fabulous Celebration of all the Shades of Queerness Award – Fionna & Cake (Adam Muto)

The Preschool Teachers We all Wish We Had Award – The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy (Fay and Fluffy)

The Let’s Be Clear, I Have Two Moms Award – Be@rbrick (Meghan McCarthy)