John Oliver told the crowd in his opening remarks at the TrevorLIVE fund-raiser last night in New York City that in the early hours of November 9, he sat alone watching the shocking results play out on his television screen.
After Trump’s victory he “felt so hollow inside” that there was only one cure:
“I watched five back-to-back episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race. It was the version of America that I wanted to live in, rather than the one that was unfolding in history.
For those of you who don’t know me, I am not like you; I am British. Yes, that does not make me better than you—anymore. But let’s all acknowledge that more than 200 years ago, this would have been a very different evening. You would be getting less jokes from me and more instructions as to what I would like to get done tomorrow.”
Edie Windsor, the woman at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage (United States v. Windsor), was honored with the Icon Award and she urged the audience to stay engaged with legislation that, despite our current administration, works to support and protect the community.
“There is no same-sex marriage in this country, there is no gay marriage in this country, there is only marriage. So if they want to get rid of same-sex marriage, they have to go to a different country that has it.”
Stars from Dennis O’Hare to Taye Diggs took the stage throughout the night to help raise money, via text donations, for the Trevor Project. The night wrapped with a performance from Imagine Dragons, whose lead singer, Dan Reynolds, a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community and the Trevor Project’s goals, received the Trevor Hero award, followed by a choral rendition of Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen’s You Will be Found.
For more info about The Trevor Project, go here and you can see more videos like the one below here.
(Photos, HBO/ Logo; via Vanity Fair)
