Billy Porter launches scathing attack on Donald Trump while delivering iconic ‘LGBTQ State of the Union’
Billy Porter’s 2020 ‘LGBTQ State of the Union’ address. (Logo/Screenshot)
In a queer alternative to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Billy Porter delivered an iconic speech about LGBT+ equality.
In television channel Logo’s second annual ‘LGBTQ State of the Union’, Porter delivered an impassioned speech about the challenges the queer community faces in 2020.
The actor and activist began by saying: “Last year, I told you that the state of our union is strong. While it certainly has been battered, our union is far from broken. Now, in 2020, our responsibility as citizens has been more evident.”
Porter, who caused Republicans a minor heart attack when he made a guest appearance on Sesame Street this month wearing his iconic tuxedo gown, used the ‘LGBTQ State of the Union’ address to take aim directly at Trump.
“Donald J Trump has painted himself as a friend of the LGBTQ community, while revealing his true colours at every malicious turn,” Porter said.
The Pose star went on to point out the surge in hate crimes over the past year and the transgender people killed in 2019.
“This heinous violence against trans people, which disproportionately affects trans women of colour, is nothing short of an epidemic.
“We must confront it as a community and as a country, and we must elect officials who recognise it for the crisis that it is.”
Porter went on to describe the multitude of challenges facing the LGBT+ community, saying, “The fate of the entire country is in the balance.”
He also acknowledged global LGBT+ issues, including the “gay purge” in Chechnya, Brazil’s election of an openly homophobic president, and Kenya’s ban on gay sex.
LGBT+ progress, like the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Taiwan, Ecuador and Northern Ireland, also featured.
“We are witnessing true progress,” Billy Porter said. “Even in the darkest moments, humanity will find the light and shine bright.”
“The category is living our best lives, on and off screen.”
