Pose actor Billy Porter has made history by becoming the first openly gay black man to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama.
“The category is love, yall! I am so overwhelmed,” Porter told the audience after dancing up to the stage.
“I am so overjoyed to have lived long enough to see this day.
“It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.
“I have the right. You have the right. We all have the right.”
He later added: “We, as artists, are the people who get to change the molecular structure of the hearts and minds of the people who live on this planet.
“Please don’t ever stop doing that, please don’t ever stop telling the truth. I love you all.”
“Please don’t ever stop telling the truth. I love you all.”
We love you too, Billy Porter. 💖#Emmys pic.twitter.com/KsyuTyGFT5
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) September 23, 2019
Billy Porter plays ballroom emcee in Ryan Murphy’s ‘Pose’
For the uninitiated, the Ryan Murphy series Pose follows African-American and Latino LGBTIQ people in the queer ballroom culture scene in 1980’s and 1990’s New York.
Porter, who is also a Tony and Grammy Award winner, stars as Pray Tell, the flamboyant emcee of the underground “balls”.
Pose was nominated for a total of six Emmys at this year’s ceremony, including Outstanding Drama Series.
The show’s second season finished last month, and it will return for a third season next year. Pose can be streamed in Australia on Foxtel.
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ wins at 71st Emmy Awards
RuPaul’s Drag Race also won at the 2019 Emmy Awards. The series again won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Series.
Earlier, the drag juggernaut earlier four awards at the earlier Creative Arts Emmy Awards last week.
Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby also won an Emmy for her Netflix special Nanette.
Actress Patricia Arquette, accepting her supporting actor Emmy at the primetime ceremony, also gave an emotional plea for transgender equality in her speech.
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
