Hello everyone, I'm Em Gentry and I use she/her or they/them pronouns and I'm
from Austin Texas. [audience cheers]
We are almost at the final award of the evening,
the GLSEN inspiration award
and when I think about what inspires me, it's education.
I know that right now we've got a Secretary of Education that we just love
[audience laughter]
but in all seriousness that's a job I would absolutely love to have in the future
[audience cheers]
when I become Secretary of Education
[audience cheers louder]
my first action will be to establish school guidelines requiring
comprehensive sex ed, that is inclusive as well.
Education has always been my passion, and in fact somebody once told me that
education is the only investment you can make with the guaranteed return
and I believe it education has impacted my life and inspired me to do things
such as joining the YMCA s youth and government program
and it continues to impact the lives of my fellow students.
Part of my educating others will also be about the dangers of bisexual erasure
and helping to dismantle biphobia. I also want to educate people on mental illnesses
and how it affects many people in the queer community
and how breaking down the stigmas that surround it are the only way to continue to inspire others.
As many before me have said, tonight we've come together to celebrate
these amazing advocates who are supporting and creating
safe and inclusive schools for all of our communities.
But we're also here because of a shared vision. A vision we've seen tremendous progress on,
and yet are still constantly reminded how much further we have to go.
I'm honored to be among you tonight and I know that with all of us working together... it's handled.
With that said, before we get to our inspiration award, Tony Goldwyn.
I'm sorry can we just take a minute... these kids are just so inspiring.
I can barely speak... and I don't think you should stop at Secretary of Education
Em, that's all I'm saying. I think that's just the beginning.
Hi, I'm Tony and I use he/him pronouns, and on this incredible night I kind
of want to just talk about two words... consciousness and empathy.
Because these are, after all, the antidotes to bullying.
The kind of magic potion that extinguishes the impulse to see a kid's
gender identity, or their gender preference, or sexual orientation... as something strange or threatening.
And I have found that one of the greatest gifts to telling stories for a living is the opportunity to raise
consciousness and to evoke empathy. I mean, you know like when you experience that moment,
when an audience has a collective human experience of truth, when they breathe as one organism,
when the differences between individuals just evaporates, those moments are transcendent
and those moments are transformative but the truth is art can only do so much
and as you all know, real transformation and lasting change will only come with a commitment
from every single one of us to consciousness and empathy.
There is one person in my life who embodies these qualities 24/7.
She does it effortlessly. It is as natural to her as breathing.
Every single person who crosses her path is greeted with love with respect, with humility with compassion.
And with a kind of look you straight in the eye connection that's... "I see you and you matter."
This is what makes her a great artist, it's what makes her a great activist, it's what makes her a great mom.
It's what makes her a great human being. I am talking of course about Kerry Washington.
You know with Kerry, it's hard to tell where her artistry ends and her activism begins.
It's hard to tell how her role as a friend or as a mother differs from her role as a social or political advocate,
because all these parts of Kerry spring from the same place,
her magnificent, oversized heart. Kerry has spoken up for years on LGBTQ issues,
including the fight for equity in education in K-12 schools,
she has served on President Obama's Committee for Arts and the Humanities,
[clapping]
she has been honored with the NAACP President's Award, the GLAAD Media Vanguard Award, and the ACLU Bill of Rights Award.
And tonight, I'm honored to be able to present my dear friend Kerry Washington, with the GLSEN Inspiration Award
[clapping]
This room is amazing
Thank you to my on-screen bea, Tony Goldwyn. I love you.
Thank you, Em, you are extraordinary.
Thank you to my fellow honorees, Bruce, Zendaya, Ose, DC Entertainment
you are all truly an inspiration.
And thank you to GLSEN for supporting these young people and the courageous work that they are doing but
But most of all, thank you to you, all over the room, you beautiful and powerful young people.
[clapping]
I didn't know how much I needed tonight.
You know sometimes I feel as though we are living through a horrific dream. It is a communal nightmare.
The flames of terror and exclusion are being ignited by some of our most powerful "leaders."
These people who have been entrusted with the protection of our rights,
the rights of all of us, of we the people,
have chosen instead to traffic in hate.
We've gone from a White House lit in all the colors of pride
to a White House that literally preaches division and discrimination.
So sometimes I worry, because the stakes are high and fear is rampant.
And with so many of us in so many disparate communities, feeling more vulnerable than ever before, I've been thinking a lot about our young people
As Tony mentioned, I became a mom a few years ago
and I know it's such a cliche, but it is true when you have kids your whole perspective changes.
Unlike before, nowadays I spend a lot of time thinking about kids and a lot of time thinking about parenting.
One of my favorite books on parenting is a gem of a resource written by my friend, Shefali Tsabary,
called The Conscious Parent.
In it, Shefali argues that our ideas about parenting are all wrong.
The way we've been thinking about it is completely upside-down
Children are not born to be molded and perfected by their parents,
Children are born to us because we need to grow and be made more perfect by them.
[cheering]
So basically what I'm saying to the young people here tonight is don't get it twisted.
We don't raise you. You raise us.
[clapping]
As I've learned more about what GLSEN does and about what each of you are doing in your schools and communities,
it reminds me of how right Shefali is.
Each of you is leading, not only perhaps your families, but also your community... young and old.
You are inspiring all of us to make the changes we need to make in order for the world to be a world
that is deserving of your beauty, and your power, and your possibility.
As founders and leaders of your high school GSAs, as newspaper editors and student body presidents,
as artists, and athletes, and programmers, and poets, you are inspiring that change.
In your work, you are collectively helping our country to become a more perfect union,
and not just for some of us but for all of us, all of "We the People."
[clapping]
It's already been said this evening, but the research -- the GLSEN research -- is clear
by creating school environments that embrace queer inclusivity, understanding, and acceptance,
you not only empower LGBTQ students, you help all students.
When you ensure the protection of one, you make space for all,
you transform your schools into places where everyone belongs, where everyone is free to learn
and where everyone can feel loved through your boldness and your bravery.
You're making it so that every young person in America has the chance to love
and be loved whether straight, gay, bi, trans, gender non-conforming, white, Asian,
African American, Latino, First Nation, documented, undocumented, Christian, Muslim, Jewish...
All of us! Everyone!
[clapping]
That... that is the kind of power that you have and that is why we are here tonight for you.
Now, to the grown-up sexy folks in the room -- and I've of course counting myself in that group.
Just because they are so amazing does not mean that we are off the hook.
As we take stock of this present moment, and think about how we can contribute to laying the groundwork
for a more perfect union,
I think what GLSEN is teaching us is that we must not worry, we must remain strong and hopeful
[sneeze from audience] bless you
[laughter]
and we must remain teachable.
We need to make sure that we don't get in the way, but that we help them clear the way.
Because like all great leaders, these young people are human
and they will at times forget their beauty and their power and so our job is not only to support them
but to remind them. We must remind them.
We do that by example, and we do that by encouragement.
We must defend and protect their hearts and their hard work. Always.
They are our leaders. We don't mold them, they mold us. All of us.
...as parents, as Americans, as compassionate human beings.
You are our truest leaders.
You point us out of this nightmare and toward that more perfect union.
And with your leadership, tonight more than ever before, I know that we will get there.
So we look to you and we love you, and we are grateful.
Thank you so much!
[clapping]
[music]