“Scandal” star Kerry Washington stood up for same-sex rights in a fiery speech Saturday night that brought a cheering crowd to its feet.
Washington made the remarks in her acceptance speech at the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, where she received the Vanguard Award for promoting equality.
In addition to calling for more representation of the LGBT community in Hollywood, she also called out marginalized communities for turning against each other, encouraging them to come together.
“Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people: we have been pitted against each other and made to feel like there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of ‘other,'” she said.
“As others, we are taught that to be successful, we must reject those other others, or we will never belong.”
She also challenged black people who don’t support gay marriage to resist “messages of hate.”
“We can’t say that we believe in each other’s fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each others’ existence and the truth of each other’s hearts. We must be allies. And we must be allies in this business because to be represented is to be humanized. And as long as anyone, anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable.”
Watch Washington’s full speech below.
