EJ Johnson has thanked his parents,
Magic and Cookie Johnson, for allowing him to be as “fabulous and
fierce as I want to be.”
EJ made his remarks in a speech
delivered at Time to THRIVE, an LGBT youth conference hosted by the
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and held at Bally's Hotel and Casino in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I always knew I was different,” EJ
said in presenting his parents with the HRC's Upstander Award. “And,
you know, certainly in the high school and middle school it's never
easy to, like, find your way and navigate through, and certainly
you're unsure of yourself. But I was really blessed with amazing
parents who are so supportive. And when I was ready to talk to them
about my situation, they were so, you know, amazing and had my back
100 percent and that's the only reason why I'm certainly here today
and comfortable enough to be as fabulous and fierce as I want to be.”
After playing a short video featuring
Magic and Cookie Johnson, EJ accepted the award on behalf of his
parents. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)