- I think 'Pose' has the unique
distinction,
just in the nature of what it is,
that it speaks to all things all the time.
It speaks to the transgender conversation that we're having
in Hollywood about cisgender actors and actresses
playing transgender parts.
You know, that conversation has always been,
"Oh well they're not the talents that they are,
the blah, blah, blah."
We put the kibosh on that.
It's inherent in the conversation
because those are the people's stories that we're telling.
And that is how you do a ball.
Here in America, we like to act like stuff didn't happen,
we get selective amnesia about
what actually really happened.
You know, whether it's Columbus Day,
or slavery, or the AIDS crisis.
A pill came in '96 and everybody forgot there was a plague.
You know, I talked to somebody the other,
the young LGBTQ gays and they don't even really,
they don't get it.
People were dropping dead in the streets,
everyday, for decades.
I didn't know how much we needed to heal,
how much we didn't heal.
The pill came and everybody moved on.
I got so many calls from friends, you know,
"I didn't know, I didn't realize I hadn't cried about this."
"Just simply cried about it."
"I didn't know how much healing I needed,
"until I watched your show, until I watched you."
"You know, the embodiment of all of my friends,
"who I lost during that time."
"And feeling them with me."
"Saying thank you."
"Tell it."
"Scream it from the mountaintops."
"Never forget."
We forget about these things.
It's like these horrible, horrible things.
The greatest country in the world, for whom?
Not for many of us.
So until it's that for many of us,
until this space works for all of us,
it ain't working.
One of the big disappointments for me
is living through the civil rights movement,
living through the LGBT movement,
and it didn't really stick.
You know, I love the concept of
when they go low we go high, great.
But we need to redefine what going high means.
Because the first version of going high for us
didn't stick, as we all can see.
(chanting)
I think the resonance of 'Pose' unfortunately,
is the fact that we're still in the same place
that we were in the '80s.
There has been movement, there has been growth,
there has been change.
But many of the fundamental issues
are still on the table.
We're still talking about rights.
Equal rights.
So it feels
infuriating.
You know, some of these conversations
that we're still having feel very antiquated to me.
I'm not scared.
I'm not terrified.
I'm mad.
I'm filled with rage that we're still
having these same conversations.
It's the same shit.
What the fuck?
Sorry.
My grandma says sometimes you gotta cuss.
It's cussing time.
If we ain't cussing now, when are we gonna cuss?
'Cause this is some bullshit,
what's going on right now in this world.
So i'mma call bullshit.
When creators from particular communities
get ahold of the narrative
you get a better version
of the storytelling.
While there's a lot of tragedy,
there's a lot of life, there's a lot of hope.
'Pose' is aspirational in that way,
'Pose' is a family show in that way.
Teaching people, teaching the world that
when you have to choose your family,
when you're forced to choose your family,
sometimes that's actually better.
You've gotta save yourself
when you find yourself in a situation
where the love is conditional.
We're black, and we're brown, and we're queer.
They don't give a shit about us
so we better start caring about ourselves.
Show up for your lives, wake up!
When you're a part of a minority
it's always a constant conversation.
Your life is about navigating
through the quagmire of inequality.
So it's a constant conversation,
it's an everyday conversation.
It's about action now though.
You know, we can't just talk about it,
we have to then show up, and what's the action
behind it that creates change.
And creates long lasting change.
And the conversation, I think, has shifted
from acceptance and tolerance.
I don't need your acceptance, I don't need your tolerance.
What we demand, your respect for my humanity.
That's all we're doing now.
We did it the other way, and that didn't stick.
I don't care what you think about me.
I don't care if you understand me.
I don't need your understanding.
But what I require and demand
is your respect for my humanity,
as a human being on this planet.
Because I respect you.
That's all we need to do.