2023 QueerX Awards honors Trace Lysette, who grew up in Dayton

“Monica” had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022 and opened locally in May at The Neon in downtown Dayton. Directed and co-written by Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro and shot on location in Cincinnati with local actors and crew, “Monica” centers on an emotional Ohio homecoming. Reconnecting with her dying mother (three-time Emmy winner Patricia Clarkson) and the rest of her family for the first time since leaving as a teenager, Monica (Lysette) embarks on a path of healing and acceptance. The film “delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness.”

“Thank you so much for the Visibility Award this year,” said Lysette, a Kentucky native who grew up in Dayton. “It’s been an especially trying year for trans folks. I know there’s a lot on the table and we are all doing our best to show up for each other and ourselves. I’m always doing my best to birth things into the world that can create some kind of a change or inspire others in our community and beyond. And I had the absolute pleasure this year of getting our film ‘Monica’ out to the world. I want to give a shout out to my co star Patricia Clarkson who played my mother and who is presenting me this award today. Thank you for championing our film. I love you dearly. And I want to say thank you to Revry for centering trans folks and queer folks on your platform. It’s so necessary and I appreciate you and I look forward to watching you bloom and we will continue to show up and live in love and empathy and take care of each other. And that goes out to all of my siblings across the greater trans and queer community. We’re, we’re all in this together. So, be good to yourselves and be good to each other. I appreciate the love today. I’m sending it all right back to you. Thank you so much.”

Other winners included Sha’Carri Richardson for Queer Athlete of the Year and Kylie Minogue for Queer Anthem of the Year (”Padam Padam”). Alex Newell being the first nonbinary person to win a Tony Award was named Queer Cultural Moment of the Year.

The 2023 QueerX Awards is streaming globally and exclusively on Revry. You can catch it on Revry’s streaming channels, available on platforms like Samsung TV Plus, Roku, VIZIO WatchFree+, Plex, Rakuten TV, Philo and more.