Cynthia Erivo received a prestigious honor at the 2025 GLAAD Media Awards.
The Wicked actress was the recipient of the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the awards show on Thursday (March 26) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Cynthia was joined at the event by longtime partner Lena Waithe. The special award is presented to a LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in raising visibility and promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people and issues.
“It isn’t easy. None of it is. 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,” Cynthia said during her speech.
Cynthia also made a Wicked and Wizard of Oz reference in the speech, connecting her points to the yellow brick road.
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“Here in this room, we have all been the recipients of the gift that is the opportunity to ‘be more.’ I doubt that it has come easy to any of us, but more, for some, the road has not been one paved with yellow bricks, but instead paved with bumps and potholes. Whichever road you have traveled, how beautiful it is that you’ve had a road to travel on at all. There are the invisible ones who have had no road at all,” Cynthia said.
Watch the full speech below!
