Comedian Wanda Sykes has a rallying cry for the entertainment industry and beyond: “Protect our trans brothers and sisters… that’s our next movement.”
Sykes, who was honored with the Career Achievement Award Tuesday at the Critics Choice Association‘s 2nd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television, said, “I believe that’s what our community does, we take care of each other… I know that love is stronger than hate… We gotta be prouder, we gotta be louder.”
The celebration honored achievements from LGBTQ+ creators and talent within the entertainment industry, showcasing emerging and established talent.
Sykes, who is currently on the European leg of her “Wanda Sykes Please and Thank You” tour, flew in for the event. Accepting the award from “Wanda Does It” co-star Tim Bagley, Sykes said, “I can’t think of a community that’s more loving than who we are. We are just trying to love and exist, and then when you have people from the outside that’s attacking you for that, I think that’s what makes us stronger.” She added, “Any adversity makes you stronger, and that’s who we are.”
Other honorees from the night included Bowen Yang (Comedy Award; “Saturday Night Live”), Bridget Everett (Ensemble Award; “Somebody Somewhere”), Eric d’Arbeloff (Industry Leadership Award; Co-President of Roadside Attractions), the Queens of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Reality TV Award; “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 17), Niecy Nash-Betts (Groundbreaker Award; “Grotesquerie”) and Tramell Tillman (Supporting Performance Award – Drama Series; “Severance”).
Nash-Betts praised the LGBTQ+ community for its support. She said, “When I was five years old, I said, ‘I want to be Black, fabulous and on TV…’ and here we are. I want to thank the Critics Choice Association for seeing me, not just for what I play on screen, but for who I am when the cameras stop rolling. You keep going, not for the applause – but for the impact.” She concluded her speech by urging the audience to “keep breaking ground together until there’s not one closet left to hide in.”
Yang, who was honored with the Comedy Award, praised his fellow honorees and said, “While I’m very honored to be receiving this, I do think a Comedy Award is the closest thing that queer people have to a participation trophy. We’re all funny. I mean, I’ve never met a non-funny queer person. It’s the way that we relate to each other in a world that’s inhospitable at times.”
The event took place at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City and was hosted by Sherry Cola.
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