ABOVE: Billy Porter accepts his award at the 71st Emmy Awards. (Photo courtesy Invision/AP)
Billy Porter, megawatt star of Ryan Murphy’s phenomenon “Pose,” made Emmy history Sept. 22 becoming the first openly gay man to win for best actor in a drama for his role as Prey Tell.
“Oh my god, I’ve got to breathe. I’ve got to breathe. Oh my god, God bless you all. The category is love, you all. Love,” Porter said from the Emmy stage. “I am so overwhelmed and I am so overjoyed to have lived long enough to see this day.”
Potter continued, “James Baldwin said, ‘Took many years of vomiting up all the filth that I had been taught about myself and halfway believed before I could walk around this earth like I had the right to be here.’ I have the right. You have the right. We all have the right.”
And with that he tipped his already legendary hat to his cast and crew and even his Mommy Clorinda.
“There were so many people who helped me get here along the way, so I’m going to just say thank you. Thank you first of all to the other exquisitely talented men in my category. I love you all so much. It is such an honor to be up here breathing the same air that you all breathe. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My mama Clorinda, there’s no stronger, more resilient woman who has graced this earth. I love you, Mommy. Much love to the Actors Fund nursing home. My sister M&M, my husband, Adam Porter Smith … Bill Butler, my manager of 29 years, 29 years. You helped me believe in myself when I couldn’t believe. FX, all the people at FX. My Slate PR family, Alexa Fogel, my “Pose” cast, everybody in my ‘Pose’ cast. Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy. You saw me. You believed in us. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.”
And to his community of artists.
“We are the people, we as artists are the people that 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. They’re telling me to please stop. God bless you. God bless you. If I forget anybody, I’m sorry. I love you all.”
The Los Angeles Blade will have complete coverage of the entire event, but it was a legendary evening with tremendously influential wins for LGBTQ Actors and talent.
You might say it was the tipping point.
InStyle reports Porter’s outfit was embellished with 100,000 crystals.
Of course, that just wouldn’t do. Billy needed a touch of wild, so on went the wildly asymmetrical Stephen Jones hat and a tie long enough to make Donald Trump feel manly.
Now, if Ryan Murphy could just make a movie so Billy can get his Oscar.
