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What's Gay About the 2016 Grammy Nominations?

Grammys 2016

The 2016 Grammy Award nomininations were released Monday. Are LGBT artists well represented?

Music fans are buzzing about the list of 2016 Grammy Award nominees, released early Monday.

Naturally, the contenders for the year's biggest awards include top-selling LGBT allies like Taylor Swift, Nick Jonas, and Adele.

But just as it did last year, the long list of nominees includes many LGBT artists. Take a look:

Best New Artist

Last year we got to watch as British crooner Sam Smith and country singer Brandy Clark, both gay, battled for Best New Artist honors. (Smith won.)

This year, Aussie indie-rocker Courtney Barnett solely represents LGBT people. Barnett's stellar debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit has made many critics' best-of lists for 2015.

Best Country Song

Clark, however, is nominated again this year. "Hold My Hand," a song she wrote with Mark Stephen Jones, is up for Best Country Song.

Best Alternative Album

Bjork, who has repeatedly told interviewers she believes everyone is bisexual, is nominated for the resplendent Vulnicura.

Best Urban Contemporary Album

Neo-soul group the Internet, featuring out lesbian rapper Syd the Kyd, is nominated in this category. The rapper was a longtime member of the now-defunct hip-hop collective Odd Future, which also featured out R&B artist Frank Ocean.

Best Latin Pop Album

Out singer Ricky Martin is nominated for the deluxe edition of his latest album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar.

Best Americana Album

Out musician Brandi Carlile is nominated for her fantastic album The Firewatcher's Daughter.

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

We weren't able to include Barry Manilow in our 2015 roundup of LGBT Grammy nominees because the performer had never officially come out. But we'll take the fact that he married his longtime manager, Garry Kief, in April as a sign. Manilow is nominated this year for My Dream Duets.

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books, and Storytelling)

Legendary folk singer and out lesbian Janis Ian is nominated along with television actress Jean Smart (Designing Women) for their reading of Isabel Miller's novel Patience and Sarah, a lesbian love story.

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

Although the band itself features no out LGBT members, Los Tigres Del Norte created a buzz this year when it released the album Realidades, featuring "Era Diferente," a song about a lesbian teenager who falls in love with her best friend. Realidades is nominated in this category.

Best Blues Album

Legendary blues singer Bettye LaVette detailed affairs with men and women in her 2013 memoir A Woman Like Me. The 69-year-old powerhouse singer is up for Best Blues Album.

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

The popular a cappella ensemble Pentatonix, which features out singers Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying, is nominated for the arrangement of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," off the group's 2014 album That's Christmas to Me.

Best Musical Theater Album

The artists and producers behind Fun Home, featuring music from the Broadway show, are nominated. The show is based on lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel's memoir of the same name.

Best Classical Music categories

Lesbian composer Laura Karpman's Ask Your Mama, featuring words by the late gay poet Langston Hughes, was nominated in three classical categories: Best Classical Compendium, Best Classical Engineered Album, and Best Classical Producer.

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Gina Vivinetto