Sunday, May 05, 2019

Madonna honors LGBTQ community with emotional speech at 30th annual GLAAD awards




GLAAD held the second half of its 30th annual awards show Saturday night and though I didn't win 'Outstanding Blog,' I am happy that the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents (led by my good friend Susan Kerr) won. Other award recipients included Janelle Monae, Don Lemon, and the television show Pose.

But the big story was the stirring speech from Madonna, who received the 'Advocate for Change' award:

"Why have I always fought for change? That's a hard question to answer," she said. "It's like trying to explain the importance of reading, or the need to love. Growing up, I always felt like an outsider, like I didn't fit in. It wasn't because I didn't shave under my armpits -- I just didn't fit in, OK. 
"The first gay man I ever met was named Christopher Flynn. He was my ballet teacher in high school and he was the first person that believed in me, that made me feel special as a dancer, as an artist and as a human being. I know this sounds trivial and superficial, but he was the first man to tell me I was beautiful."

You can see another portion of what she said above. The entire speech itself (though not released) was incredible.

Go here for a complete list of 30th annual GLAAD Award recipients