The Beverly Hilton held space for the 36th GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday night and “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo made the whole room tear up with her impactful speech about the importance of using your powers for good.
As the recipient of the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, the Oscar nominee used her time on stage to give a powerful, five-minute call to action for all those in attendance to look out for queer people who have not been afforded the opportunity to live their truth.
“This has been a wild, wild ride and I’ve been deeply grateful for every second of it. But more than anything, I have seen and felt how open-armed my community has been,” Erivo began. “I have spoken about being your whole self and your true self. I speak about the prizes that come from being you against the odds. But rarely do I acknowledge how hard that can be. So I thought that I would make some room for those of us who are trying to find the courage to exist as we want, because I think this is the space to do that.”
“It isn’t easy. None of it is. Waking up and choosing to be yourself, proclaiming a space belongs to you when you don’t feel welcomed, teaching people on a daily basis how to address you and dealing with the frustration of re-teaching people a word that has been in the human vocabulary since the dawn of time: They/them — words used to describe, pedantically, two or more people; poetically, a person who is simply more,” she continued. “It isn’t easy to ask people to treat you with dignity, since you should just have it, because it’s a given. It isn’t easy to learn to grow who you are if the world around you is knocking at your door, telling you to stay inside. Some flowers bloom against all the odds, like the peony; but most flowers need to be tended to and cared for before they brave the light and open up their petals to the sun.
“Here in this room, we have all been the recipients of the gift that is the opportunity to be more. I doubt that it has come easy to any of us, but more, for some, the road has not been one paved with yellow bricks, but instead paved with bumps and potholes,” Erivo said. “Whichever road you have traveled, how beautiful it is that you’ve had a road to travel on at all. There are the invisible ones who have had no road at all. For those who have not even yet to begin to find the road, be encouraged and be patient with yourself. It will show itself.”
“I know that this event is to celebrate the work that we do, and I am endlessly grateful for this honor and a celebration of this. But the real work is making the ground we leave in our wake level enough for the next person who finds their way to the path we have made,” she added. “For the person who is searching and searching and has not found it yet. This room is full of people who can and will, if they choose — and I hope they will, because I do — to be lanterns to light up your journey and your path on the way to showing the world who you are. We use the phrase ‘out and proud,’ and though you might not have had the strength or capacity to do that now, know that I am proud of your quiet and solitary want to be just that.
“We are all visible. We can be seen. We see each other. I see you, you see me. But think of those who have not been seen. Think of those who sit in the dark and wait their turn, hoping and waiting for a light to light their path. I ask every single one of you in this room, with the spaces that you’re in and the lights that you hold, to point it in the direction of someone who just needs a little guidance,” Erivo concluded. “Thank you. GLAAD, Congratulations to your 40th anniversary, for this beautiful honor. Please, all have a beautiful night.”
Other notable highlights from the night included similarly passionate speeches from Doechii (Outstanding Music Artist), Hannah Einbinder for “Hacks” (Outstanding Comedy Series) and Harper Steele for “Will & Harper” (Outstanding Documentary), as well as Patti LuPone earnestly quoting iconic “RuPaul’s Drag Race” one-liners. Additionally, Michael Urie proved his fabulous hosting chops, complete with more costume changes than you could count, and the after party went well into the evening with specialty cocktails from co-sponsor Hornitos tequila.
Check out the full list of 2025 GLAAD Media Awards winners here.
