{"id":86520,"date":"2019-05-05T10:25:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T14:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/madonna-recalls-gay-friends-lost-to-aids-and-how-they-inspired-her-in-emotional-glaad-awards-speech-watch\/"},"modified":"2019-05-05T10:25:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T14:25:40","slug":"madonna-recalls-gay-friends-lost-to-aids-and-how-they-inspired-her-in-emotional-glaad-awards-speech-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/madonna-recalls-gay-friends-lost-to-aids-and-how-they-inspired-her-in-emotional-glaad-awards-speech-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Madonna Recalls Gay Friends Lost to AIDS and How They Inspired Her in Emotional GLAAD Awards Speech: WATCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madonna Recalls Gay Friends Lost to AIDS and How They Inspired Her in Emotional GLAAD Awards Speech: WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Madonna accepted the Advocate for Change Award at the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday night in New York City.<\/p>\n

In the heavily edited acceptance speech posted by GLAAD online, she talked about the film Truth or Dare<\/em> and how it inspired as well as horrified.<\/p>\n

Said Madonna: \u201cI had no idea it was going to inspire so many gay<\/a> men<\/a> to a, give blow jobs to Evian bottles, or b, just have the courage to come out and be free and take a stand and say this is who I am, like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look back and watch that film I am horrified by my brattiness but I\u2019m also proud that it gave so many people hope,\u201d she added. \u201cFighting for all marginalized people was a duty I could not turn my back on or will I ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madonna described her first visit to Malawi as the country dealt with an AIDS epidemic, and how it prompted her to make the documentary I Am Because We Are<\/em>, and helped build schools, orphanages, and a pediatric hospital.<\/p>\n

Said Madonna: \u201cI decided to go there and see what I could do, and it was like history repeating itself. hospital wards filled with emaciated dying people, lying in hallways and under beds, abandoned children wandering the streets. Everywhere orphanages overflowing. No medicine, no education about what was happening and no one talking about prevention. \u2026 It was here that I met and adopted four of my six most beautiful children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madonna also quoted James Baldwin: \u201cBecause only an artist can tell and only an artist have told, since we have heard of man<\/a>, what it is like for anyone who gets to this planet, to survive it. What it is like to die, or to have somebody die, what it is like to fear death, what is it like to fear, what it is like to love, what it is like to be glad. Hymns don\u2019t do this, churches really cannot do it. The trouble is only the artist can do it, the price that he or she has to pay himself and the price the audience has to pay is willingness to give up everything, because nothing, none of it belongs to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She concluded by referencing her upcoming album, Madame X<\/em>: \u201cAs soon as you really understand what it means to love, you understand what it takes to become a human being and that it is every human\u2019s duty to fight, to advocate, to do whatever we can and whatever it takes. Madame X is a freedom fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

There was much more to the speech, as evidenced by additional clips that showed up online.<\/p>\n

Said Madonna: \u201cWhy have I always fought for change? That\u2019s a hard question to answer. It\u2019s like trying to explain the importance of reading or the need to love. Growing up I always felt like an outsider, like I didn\u2019t fit in. It wasn\u2019t because I didn\u2019t shave under my armpits, I just didn\u2019t fit in, OK. The first gay<\/a> man<\/a> I ever met was named Christopher Flynn. He was my ballet teacher in high school and he was the first person that believed in me, that made me feel special as a dancer, as an artist and as a human being. I know this sounds trivial and superficial, but he was the first man<\/a> to tell me I was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spoke about going to her first gay<\/a> club in Detroit: \u201cFor the first time I saw men<\/a> kissing men<\/a>, girls<\/a> dressed like boys<\/a>, boys<\/a> wearing hot pants, insane, incredible dancing and a kind of freedom and joy and happiness that I had never seen before. I finally felt like I was not alone, that it was OK to be different and to not be like everybody else. And that after all, I was not a freak. I felt at home, and it gave me hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she spoke of AIDS and the friends it took from her: \u201cThe plague that moved in like a black cloud over New York City and in a blink of an eye, took out all of my friends. After I lost my best friend and roommate Martin Burgoyne and then Keith Haring \u2013 happy birthday Keith \u2013 I decided to take up the bull horn and really fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>
full version<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other GLAAD awards handed out:<\/p>\n

Vito Russo Award:<\/strong>\u00a0Andy Cohen [presented by Sarah Jessica Parker]<\/p>\n

Outstanding Drama Series:<\/strong>\u00a0Pose\u00a0<\/em>(FX) [accepted by: creators Ryan Murphy and Steven Canals, and cast members including Billy Porter, Janet Mock, Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross, Our Lady J, Dyllon Burnside, Hailie Sahar, and Ryan Jamal Swain; presented by Rachel Brosnahan]<\/p>\n

Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cTrans Rights Under Attack\u201d\u00a0Full Frontal with Samantha Bee\u00a0<\/em>(TBS) [accepted by: Samantha Bee; presented by Adam Rippon and Lilly Singh]<\/p>\n

Outstanding TV Journalism Segment:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSame Sex Couple Reacts to Supreme Court Ruling\u201d\u00a0CNN Tonight with Don Lemon<\/em>\u00a0(CNN) [accepted by: Don Lemon; presented by Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, and Dominique Jackson]<\/p>\n

Outstanding Film \u2013 Limited Release:<\/strong>\u00a0Boy Erased\u00a0<\/em>(Focus Features)<\/p>\n

Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series:\u00a0<\/strong>The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story<\/em>\u00a0(FX)<\/p>\n

Outstanding Music Artist:<\/strong>\u00a0Janelle Mon\u00e1e, Dirty Computer (Bad Boy Records)<\/p>\n

Outstanding TV Journalism \u2013 Newsmagazine:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cConversion Therapy: God Only Knows\u201d\u00a0CBS Sunday Morning\u00a0<\/em>(CBS)<\/p>\n

Outstanding Newspaper Article:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cHe Took a Drug to Prevent AIDS. Then He Couldn\u2019t Get Disability Insurance.\u201d by Donald G. McNeil Jr. (The New York Times)<\/em><\/p>\n

Outstanding Digital Journalism Article:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cBermuda Same-sex<\/a> Marriage Ban Means Trouble for Tourism and Cruise Ships\u201d by Ryan Ruggiero (CNBC.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Outstanding Digital Journalism \u2013 Video or Multimedia:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cMarch for Our Lives and LGBT activism. \u2018They\u2019re definitely linked for me,\u2019 says Emma Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>\u201d by Beth Greenfield (Yahoo! Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

Outstanding Blog:\u00a0<\/strong>Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents<\/p>\n

Outstanding Scripted Television Series (Spanish-Language):<\/strong>\u00a0Elite\u00a0<\/em>(Netflix) and\u00a0Mi marido tiene m\u00e1s familia<\/em>\u00a0(Univision) [TIE]<\/p>\n

Outstanding TV Journalism Segment<\/strong>\u00a0(Spanish-Language)<\/strong>: \u201cPrimera Pareja Gay en Casarse en un Consulado Mexicano\u201d\u00a0Noticias Telemundo Mediod\u00eda\u00a0<\/em>(Telemundo<\/p>\n

The post Madonna Recalls Gay Friends Lost to AIDS and How They Inspired Her in Emotional GLAAD Awards Speech: WATCH<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"
\n<\/p>\n

Madonna Recalls Gay Friends Lost to AIDS and How They Inspired Her in Emotional GLAAD Awards Speech: WATCH<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n