Oprah Winfrey recently paid tribute to her late brother Jeffrey during her acceptance speech for the Vanguard Award from GLAAD, the iconic LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
In a heartfelt moment, the legendary media mogul shared Jeffrey's struggle with his sexuality during a less enlightened time, expressing remorse that he couldn't experience the progress towards acceptance seen today.
Winfrey said:
"And at the time, I really didn’t know how deeply my brother internalized the shame that he felt about being gay. I wish he could have lived to visit these liberated times and to be here with me tonight."
Winfrey reminisced about her groundbreaking efforts on The Oprah Winfrey Show to dispel AIDS-related myths and combat homophobia, including town halls and celebrations of National Coming Out Day. She stressed the importance of creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ voices to be heard and acknowledged.
Continuing her advocacy, Winfrey featured documentaries on transgender individuals on her network, OWN, and conducted interviews with notable LGBTQ+ figures like Elliot Page and Connie Johnson, Magic Johnson's wife.
"And what I’ve learned over the years of interviewing over 35,000 people one-on-one… is that every single person wants the same thing, and that is the desire to feel seen and to know that what we say matters and to know that we matter.”
Oprah Winfrey accepts the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards www.youtube.com
People shared their love of Oprah in comments on the speech.
@tonyguse/YouTube
@mspalmboy/YouTube
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Folks said they never quite understood how Oprah was a controversial figure, or any of the backlash against her.
@Rich0927/YouTube
Some commented on how little they have heard her speak of her brother before this award.
@jayryan7739/YouTube
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A few even spoke specifically to how Oprah helped them grow up and come out.
@bobby9882/YouTube
Others commented that her interviews helped their family talk about hard things.
@douglaswild3852/YouTube
People liked the nuance of her address.
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Finally, there were those who thanked her for her long history of allyship to the LGBTQ community.
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@FG-hw5ep/YouTube
Oprah's long-time support of the LGBTQ community was appropriately awarded at the event.
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@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky