Billy Porter’s Triumphant Emmy Win Is Everything

During the Emmys on Sunday evening a man wearing a fabulous hat graced the stage and was the first openly gay man of color to accept the award for lead actor in a drama series. That man was Billy Porter, and he had made history.

“The category is love, ya’ll,” he exclaimed. With an undeniable electric presence and sheer joy palpable, his words engulfed the audience as he evoked the spirit of James Baldwin by sharing one of the writer’s most powerful quotes about marginalized existence:

“It 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.”

James Baldwin

Porter, the star of the FX runaway hit “Pose” whose performance of Pray Tell cements his legacy as canon, continues to inspire, not only as an LGBTQIA+ icon, but by lending his powerful voice to advocate for the humanity in each of us.

“I have the right. You have the right. We all have the right! There were so many people who helped me get here along the way, so I’m just going to say thank you.”

Billy Porter

No, no, Billy—thank you.