Laverne Cox, transgender actress and advocate accepted an award on behalf of the groundbreaking Netflix series Orange is the New Black at the 2014 Logo Trailblazers awards, which honor those paving the way for LGBT equality. Her speech proved to be one of the highlights of the night, in which she told the stories of Monica Jones, who was arrested for walking while trans in Arizona, and activist Sylvia Rivera, a transgender community leader present at Stonewall the night of the riots who faced opposition even from within the LGBT movement for trying to give a voice to the disenfranchised. Laverne asked the LGBT community at large not to ignore or leave behind the most marginalized members of the LGBT community who are still fighting for dignity to this day.
As we celebrate this show and this historic moment 45 years since Stonewall, I just want to encourage us to ask ourselves what more can we do to honor the legacy of Stonewall and the trailblazers who made it possible for us to be here.
The ceremony took place at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, one of the first churches in New York to host same-sex marriages. Edie Windsor, Roberta Kaplan and Jason Collins are among others honored.
Tune into Trailblazers tonight at 9/8c on Logo TV and watch Laverne's speech below!