Gayming Magazine presented the 6th Annual Gayming Awards in Los Angeles this week, an event that celebrates LGBTQ media, characters, organizations, and creators. The event was streamed on WOW Presents Plus with Erika Ishii, a prolific voice actor, and Dawn, a two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, as its hosts. Fans, nominees, and GLAAD were invited to attend an in-person viewing party extravaganza at The Vermont Hollywood.
The video game nominees for this year’s Gayming Awards included several games also nominated at the 37th GLAAD Media Award, such as Hades II and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, with both Melinoë and Kat Mikaelsen nominated for the Best LGBTQ+ Character Award. One of the big winners at the Gayming Awards was Date Everything!, a sandbox dating game that gained widespread acclaim for its amusing premise that allowed players to date anthropomorphized objects and furniture in their home. This title was awarded both Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game and the Gayming Fan Favorite Award.
The Gayming Awards also recognized individual LGBTQ creators and industry professionals who are making a difference by doing what they love while being their authentic selves. Twitch streamer ghcoffee received the LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year award while WillJinkies, one of the members of last year’s LGBTQ+ Streaming Rising Star Class of 2025, was awarded the LGBTQ+ Breakout Content Creator. The ultra-talented Jennifer English, the voice of Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 (recipient of the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game), was also recognized as LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year.
Amongst the people honored was Darion Lowenstein, who received the Rebecca Heineman Gayming Icon Award. Lowenstein is a veteran in the AAA video game industry who founded his own consulting company Secret Code, and was an integral part of GLAAD Gaming’s creation and remains an invaluable supporter of GLAAD to this day. Lowenstein is a lifelong fan of video games who got his start reviewing games as a teenager, which then led to him entering the video game industry via Dynamix at age 16. Lowenstein has worked at major studios such as Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Scopely, supporting the creation of hit games that many players know and love. As a gay man who has often been a voice for underrepresented people, Lowenstein has not only witnessed, but been a crucial part of the progress made to ensure that LGBTQ people are both seen, heard, and respected in the video game industry.
Lowenstein is the sixth person to receive the newly renamed Rebecca Heineman Gayming Icon Award, named after the late Rebecca Heineman who herself was a video game industry legend, recipient of the Gayming Icon Award in 2025, and served on GLAAD’s Board of Directors. Heineman and Lowenstein, along with past award recipients Robert Yang, Tanya DePass, Ashly Burch, Jeremy Crawford, are trailblazers that represent LGBTQ excellence and show that LGBTQ people have always been involved in making the video game industry truly special.
From left: Robin Gray, Darion Lowenstein. Photo Credits: @stevenonthescene
“What I know now is that representation is not a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between someone feeling like they exist in this world or they don’t,” Lowenstein said in his awards acceptance speech. “My dream is that no one ever has to hide who they truly are to build the career that they really want. To anyone out there who’s still wondering if they belong, you belong here. You always did.”
Gayming Awards 2026 Winners:
Game of the Year – South of Midnight (Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios)
Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game – Date Everything! (Sassy Chap Games/Team17)
Industry Diversity Award – Riot Games
Community Impact Award – Qweerty Games
Gayming Fan Favorite Award – Date Everything!
Best LGBTQ+ Character – Orela Rose, Dead by Daylight (Behaviour Interactive)
Best LGBTQ+ Voice Actor of the Year – Jennifer English
Rebecca Heineman Gayming Icon Award – Darion Lowenstein
LGBTQ+ Content Creator of the Year – ghcoffee
LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award – Team Liquid
LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment of the Year – Dimension 20: Dungeons & Drag Queens Season 2
LGBTQ+ Content Creator Superstar Award – Trixie Mattel
LGBTQ+ Breakout Content Creator Award – WillJinkies
LGBTQ+ Streaming Rising Star Class of 2026 – AceoftheDeadx, Artirie, CYREELism, and YouWorshipAngel