“This award is bigger than Jharrel and I. This represents more than a kiss. This is for those who feel like the others, the misfits — this represents us.”
Those are the powerful words from Ashton Sanders, 21, at the MTV Movie Awards over the weekend, who together with his Moonlight costar Jharrel Jerome, 19, took home the popcorn statue in the Best Kiss category.
“I think it’s safe to say that it is okay for young performers, especially us minority performers, to step out of the box,” Jerome added. “This award is for that. It’s for artists who need to step out of the box and do whatever it takes to tell a story and whatever it takes to make a change, to get people to wake up.”
Here’s part of Sanders’ acceptance speech:
How about we take this to the next level?
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For a category that has in previous years gone to Twilight lip locks between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson four years in a row (2009-2012), seeing two young men of color proudly accepting the prize was a wonderful change — and well deserved.
Related: Beyond Moonlight: 5 Black LGBTQ films that blazed the trail
If you need a refresher on how well-deserved it really was, check out the moving scene below:
https://youtu.be/LfYwzgDe-VQ
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Captain Obvious
I’m honestly shocked and pleasantly surprised but they also seemed to be “experimenting” with “differences” for this award show so that sullies it a little. I mean doing away with gender as if having a gender or recognizing gender is an insult was rather weird and got eye rolls from me.
All that said it’s nice to see a gay male couple that breaks away from the mold be recognized for once.
Xzamilloh
Nothing I love more than unapologetic gay black love. I’m not big on “othering” everything, but this is needed, not necessarily to change certain minds but just to tell those minds that the rest of us aren’t going to stop living just because you don’t want to understand or accept us
kevins48
“This award is bigger than Jharrel and I. This represents more than a kiss. This is for those who feel like the others, the misfits — this represents us.”
why are people so afraid of the word “me”?
Blackceo
I was really delighted when I heard that they won for best kiss and even more so at what they had to say in accepting. Moonlight’s importance for LGBT people of color can’t be overstated and in an industry where some minority actors have stated they didn’t want to play a gay role I think Jerome’s words were very important in terms of stepping outside of the box and being challenged to play such a role. Congrats to them both.
Black Pegasus
This is beautiful 🙂
Kangol
Beautiful and moving. And don’t forget, fans helped them win, so there are a lot of people out there who voted to affirm that kiss, and Moonlight.
(Also great to see Queerty posting something positive about black and brown people for a change, though as usual, the people involved are straight.)
Neonegro
Hardly the best kiss…..