The Last of Us actor Nick Offerman has used an awards speech to condemn the "homophobic hate" he has received from viewers, over his character.
At Sunday's Independent Spirit Awards, Offerman won best supporting performance in a new scripted series, for playing Bill in the TV drama.
Bill and his partner, Frank, are among the survivors of a fungal brain infection in the hit HBO show.
Offerman thanked HBO for "having the guts" to tell such stories.
He added they were "stories with guts, that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, 'Why did you have to make it a gay story?', we say, 'Because you ask questions like that - it's not a gay story, it's a love story.'"
He was nominated alongside Murray Bartlett, who played Frank; while Bella Ramsey was up for best lead performance, for playing Ellie.
Their co-star Keivonn Montreal Woodard won the award for best breakthrough performance, for playing Sam.
Netflix's Beef also won two awards in the TV categories - best new scripted series and best lead performance, for Ali Wong.
In the film section, Korean-American romance Past Lives won best feature and best director, for Celine Song.
Literary-satire American Fiction won best lead performance, for Jeffrey Wright, and best screenplay, for Cord Jefferson.
