Lena Waithe was honored with the Trailblazer Award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards in NYC on Saturday night. The actress and Emmy-winning writer — who hit the red carpet with her fianceé, Alana Mayo, gave a poignant acceptance speech on stage, during which she gave "glory and shine" to the stars of the iconic 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. "I believe the only reason why I'm even allowed to stand here is because of a few other trailblazers that some of you might not be aware of." Lena then urged the audience to think of those LGBTQ+ pioneers, like Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Angie Xtravaganza, who "strutted through a brick wall so we wouldn't have to."
#MTVAwards: @LenaWaithe thanks trail blazers: "they strutted through a brick wall so we wouldn't have to" pic.twitter.com/0f20rUJxEE
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 19, 2018
