Kerry Washington, more popularly known as Olivia Pope in the hit American TV series "Scandal," has been awarded the Vanguard Award during the 2015 GLAAD Media Awards for being an "ally" of the LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, or Transgender) community and for advocating for same-sex rights.
According to CNN, Washington "brought a cheering crowd to its feet" when she delivered her acceptance speech. One of the highlights of Washington's speech was her call for more "diverse" LGBT representations in media. She believes that storytelling is powerful so it is better to have "more LGBT characters and more LGBT storytelling." She also pointed out that more LGBT people should work in the media industry.
The actress also urged marginalized communities to unite instead of "turning against each other."
"Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, inter-sex people, we have been pitted against each other and made to feel like there are limited seats at the table for those of us that fall into the category of 'other.' As a result, we have become afraid of one another. We compete with one another, we judge one another, sometimes we betray one another. Sometimes even within our own communities, we designate who among us is best suited to represent us and who, really, shouldn't even really be invited to the party. As 'others,' we are taught to be successful we must reject those 'other 'others' or we will never belong."
"We can't say that we believe in each other's fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each other's 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 made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable."
"We must see each other, all of us and we must see ourselves, all of us and we have to continue to be bold and break new ground until this is how it is, until we are no longer 'firsts' and 'exceptions' and 'rare' and 'unique.' In the real world, being an 'other' is the norm. In the real world, the only norm is uniqueness and our media must reflect that."
Read the entire transcript of Washington's speech at E! Online. Or you could also watch her take the stage and deliver her inspiring speech in this video below (courtesy of GLAAD):