Accepting an award at the GLAAD Awards, Kerry Washington received a standing ovation for her speech on the need for unity amongst the marginalized communities.

The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards took place last night in Los Angeles. GLAAD promotes positive portrayals of LGBT people in media, and the awards ceremony celebrates industry professionals who promote LGBT characters and their struggles.

This year, the Vanguard Award for promoting equality was presented to Scandal‘s Kerry Washington, who had some empowering words for the crowd:

Washington said, “I’m going to say some stuff and I might be preaching to the choir, but I’m going to say it. Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people: we have been pitted against each other and made to feel there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of ‘other.’ As a result, we have become afraid of one another.

“We compete with one another, we judge one another. Sometimes, we betray one another. Sometimes even within our own communities we designate who among us is best suited to represent us and who really shouldn’t even be invited to the party.

“We can’t say that we believe in each other’s fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each others’ existence and the truth of each other’s hearts. We must be allies. And we must be allies in this business because to be represented is to be humanized. And as long as anyone, anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable.”

Basically, Washington is reminding us that, whatever marginalized minority you belong to, you should reach out to and support others suffering due to marginalization – also if they are marginalized for something else. Washington’s powerful statement was met with cheers from the audience.

When presenting the award to her, Ellen DeGeneres had a few choice words of her own (and a few jokes):

In related news, How to Get Away With Murder won the Outstanding Drama award. Congratulations!