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Sign up for the Socialite Life newsletter.<\/strong> A three-time weekly dose of divas, drag queens, hot male celebrities, models, & pop culture news. Get it in your inbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Nick Offerman<\/a><\/strong>, a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, once again lit up the stage with his advocacy at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards<\/a><\/em><\/strong> held on Sunday night, 25 February.<\/p>\n The much-admired 53-year-old actor bagged the Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series award for his stellar portrayal of Bill in the gripping post-apocalyptic series, The Last of Us<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. The show\u2019s third episode, titled \u2018Long, Long Time,\u2019 tenderly narrates Bill and Frank\u2019s (played by Murray Bartlett<\/a><\/strong>) love story, earning accolades for its poignant LGBTQ representation. Despite this, it faced its share of backlash and unwarranted negative reviews.<\/p>\n Upon accepting his award in Santa Monica, Offerman Offerman thanked HBO \u201cfor having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cStories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, \u2018Why did you have to make it a gay story?\u2019 we say, \u2018Because you ask questions like that. It\u2019s not a gay story it\u2019s a love story, you asshole!\u201d This declaration was met with enthusiastic applause from the gathered audience, punctuated by Offerman\u2019s call for more LGBTQ+ storytelling.<\/p>\n The evening also saw Offerman humorously acknowledge his co-star, Bartlett, joking about their off-screen camaraderie and the \u2018strawberries\u2019 discussion, quickly clarifying it wasn\u2019t a metaphor for anything else.<\/p>\n