Sandra Oh and Stephanie Beatriz to be honored at 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival

Sandra Oh and Stephanie Beatriz are about to feel the love.

EW can exclusively reveal that both actresses will be honored at Outfest this year. Oh will be recognized with the James Schamus Ally Award and Beatriz with the Fusion Achievement Award on April 8 at the opening Gala of the 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The James Schamus Ally Award, which recognizes a great ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, will be presented to Killing Eve star Oh for her work on screen and her public advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.

"Ms Oh's allyship is far-reaching, unwavering, and all-encompassing, standing up for the countless individuals that continue to feel a sense of 'othered' in our society. She has been a true trailblazer and consistent advocate before and now throughout her career, and we are honored to call her a friend of Outfest for nearly two-decades," said Outfest Executive Director Damien S. Navarro in a statement.

"Outfest's mission closely aligns with my own desire to drive change and creativity, and I am humbled to be chosen for this incredible honor," Oh said.

The 2022 Fusion Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to LGBTQIA+ stories, arts, and media visibility, will honor Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Beatriz for her body of work and dedication to bisexual visibility. Past recipients of the Award include Michaela Coel, Nisha Ganatra, Angela Robinson, Rose Troche, Wilson Cruz, Alec Mapa, Patrik-Ian Polk, Cheryl Dunye, Brickson Diamond, and Rikki Beadle-Blair.

"In order for representation to be truly meaningful, it needs to be nuanced and authentic. Through her work in Encanto, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and In The Heights, Stephanie has brought bold, original and engaging characters to life on screen whilst also proudly standing up for our community as well as immigrant rights," said Navarro.

Highlighting the Argentinian-American as a queer, immigrant, woman of color who has "openly embraced and discussed her bisexuality" he stated, "We are inspired and honored by her bravery."

Beatriz previously spoke to EW about the importance of bisexual representation when her BK99 character Rosa came out as bi in a 2017 episode.

"Oftentimes bi characters are hypersexualized and sometimes duplicitous, and they're playing both sides, or they're simply defined by their sexuality and not by anything else. That's not to say that every bi character on TV is like that, but … a lot of them are, and that's disappointing to me as somebody who identifies as bi or queer, because I'm not duplicitous or villainous," she said. "There's a reason that people sometimes think bisexuality is not something that's a real thing, which is so mindboggling to me, but I can see how that might happen if that access isn't there. How are you ever going to appreciate, I don't know, the color blue if you've never ever seen it, you're just going to be terrified of this weird thing — there's this weird mix of green and yellow, and you don't understand it at all."

This year's Outfest will take place from April 8 to April 13 in-person and then move online from April 13 to April 17, offering 10 days of education and entertainment, providing the public and storytellers alike with the opportunity to hear and learn from a spectrum of today's most prominent culturally-rich voices. Attendees are able to engage via screenings, community workshops, a One-Minute Movie Contest, and networking events.

More information about the festival can be found at the event's official website.

Related content:

• Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer preview creative deaths, new faces, and endgames of Killing Eve's final season
• Stephanie Beatriz thought she'd be fired from Brooklyn Nine-Nine because she's Latina
• Leo Sheng, Javicia Leslie, and more stars share what they want to see from LGBTQ art