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thank you Chad for those kind words and for even kinder work that
you and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation do every day, especially
on behalf the lesbian gay bisexual
and transgender young people here and across america.
it is such an honor to be here at the inaugural time to thrive conference
but it's a little weird to Here I am
in this room because of an organization whose work
that I deeply deeply admire and I'm surrounded by people who make it
Their life's work to make other people's lives better
profoundly better. Some of you teach young people,
some of you help young people, heal and to find their voice,
some of you listen, some of you take an action
some of you are young people yourselves
in which case it's even weirder for a person like me to be speaking to you.
it's weird because Here I am
I'm an actress, representing at least in some sense
an industry that places crushing standards on
all of us and not just young people
everyone standards
of a beauty, of a good life, of success,
standards that I hate to admit
have affected me, you have ideas planted in your head,
thoughts you never had before tell you how you have to act
how you have to dress and who you have to be
and I've been trying to push back
to be authentic to follow my heart but it can be hard,
but that's why I'm here in this room
all of you, all of us can do so much more together
than any one person can do alone and I hope that thoughts bolsters you
as much as it does me. I hope that the workshops you'll go to over the next few
days give you strength
because I can only imagine
but there are days when you've worked longer hours than your boss realizes
or cares about just to help the kids who you know can make it
days where you feel completely alone undermine
are hopeless and I know that there are people in this room
who go to school every day get treated like *** for no reason, you go home
and you feel like you can't tell your parents the whole truth about yourself
and beyond putting yourself in one box,
or another, you worry about the future, about college,
or work and even your physical safety.
and trying to create that mental picture of your life,
or what on earth is gonna happen to you,
can crush you a little bit every day and
toxic, and painful
and deeply unfair, sometimes it's the little insignificant stuff that can tear you down.
I try not to read gossip
as a rule but the other day, a website
ran an article with a picture of me wearing sweatpants on the way to the gym,
and the writer asked: ''why does this petite
beauty insist upon dressing like a massive man?''... because I like to be comfortable.
There are pervasive stereotypes about masculinity
and femininity that define how we're all supposed to act,
dress and speak and they serve no one.
Anyone who defies these so-called ''norms'' becomes worthy of
comment and scrutiny, and the LGBT community knows this all too well.
There's courage all around us,
the football hero Michael Sam, the actress Laverne ***
the musicians Tegan and Sara Quin the family that supports their daughters/sons,
who has come out and there is courage in this room,
all of you, and I'm inspired to be in this room,
every single one here for the same reason you're here
because you've adopted as core motivation
the simple fact that this world would be a whole lot better If
we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another.
If we took just five minutes
to recognize each other's beauty instead to be
attacking each other for our differences that's not hard
it's really an easier and better way to live
and ultimately it saves lives,
then again it can be the hardest thing,
because loving other people, start
loving ourselves, accepting ourselves and I know many of you have struggled with
this
and I draw upon your strength and your support,
and ways that you will never know and I am here today
because I am gay and because
the
the
and because
maybe I can make a difference,
to help others have easier and more hopeful time
regardless for me I feel a personal obligation,
and a social responsibility, I also do it selfishly,
because I'm tired of hiding, and
I'm tired of lying by omission.
I suffered for years because I was scared to be out, my spirit suffered,
my mental health suffered, and my relationships suffered,
and I'm standing here today
all of you, on the other side of all that pain and I am young
yes but what I have learned is that love, the beauty of it,
the joy of it,
and even the pain of it, as the most incredible gift,
to give and to receive as a human being,
and we deserve to experience love fully, equally,
without shame and without compromise.
There are too many kids out there suffering from bullying,
rejection, simply being mistreated because of who they are,
too many dropouts, too much abuse,
too many homeless, too many suicides.
you can change that and you're changing it,
but you've never needed me to tell you,
and that's why this was a little bit weird,
The only thing that I can really say as well,
that I've building up to (listen), this is what I've
been building up to for the past 5 minutes, Thank you,
Thank you for inspiring me,
Thank you for giving me hope, and please Keep changing the world for people like
me.
Happy Valentine's Day. I love you.