Cynthia Erivo delivers powerful acceptance speech at 2025 GLAAD Media Awards

Cynthia Erivo and Doechii were among the winners at the 2025 GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday.

The 36th annual GLAAD Media Awards, hosted by actor Michael Urie, took place in Los Angeles on Thursday, honouring the best in LGBTQ+ media.

Wicked star Erivo took home the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented to an "openly queer member of the entertainment or media community for their work toward eliminating homophobia".

Taking to the stage at the event, the two-time Oscar nominee, who is bisexual, called for a light to be shone on the LGBTQ+ community.

"I have spoken about being your whole self and your true self. I speak about the prizes that come from being you against (the) odds. But rarely do I acknowledge how hard it can be," Erivo said.

"So I thought that I would make some room for those of us who are trying to find the courage to exist as we want, because I think this is the space to do that."

The British star went on to acknowledge that "it isn't easy" to take up space as a queer person.

"Waking up and choosing to be yourself, proclaiming a space belongs to you when you don't feel welcomed, teaching people on a daily basis how to address you and dealing with the frustration of reteaching people a word that has been in the human vocabulary since the dawn of time: they/them," she continued.

Elsewhere in her speech, Erivo shared that she was "proud" of those who are open about their sexuality and urged the audience to think about those "who are not seen".

The night's television winners included Hacks, Agatha All Along, Baby Reindeer, RuPaul's Drag Race, Heartstopper and The Real Housewives of New York City, while winners in the film categories included My Old Ass, Crossing and Will & Harper.

Also, Doechii and Durand Bernarr took home prizes in the music categories, and Keke Palmer received an award for her podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer.