In accepting the Tony Award for best
leading actor in a play on Sunday, Andrew Garfield thanked the LGBT
community.
Garfield was recognized for his
portrayal of Prior Walter in the AIDS drama Angels in America.
"It is the profound privilege of
my life to play Prior Walter in 'Angels in America' because he
represents the purest spirit of humanity and especially that of the
LGBTQ community," Garfield
said in accepting his award. "It is that spirit that says no
to oppression, it is a spirit that says no to bigotry, no to shame,
no to exclusion. It is a spirit that says we were all made perfectly
and we all belong. So I dedicate this award to the countless LGBTQ
who have fought and died to protect that spirit. To protect that
message for the right to live and love as we are created to. We are
all sacred.”
“Let's just bake a cake for everyone
who wants a cake to be baked!" he said, referring to the recent
Supreme Court ruling that sided with a Colorado baker who refused to
make a cake for a gay couple.
(Related: Supreme
Court narrowly sides with baker who refused gay couple.)
Speaking backstage, Garfield said that
Angels “is so very important” now because President Donald
Trump “is the antithesis of the values of the play, of the arts
generally.”
Out actor Nathan Lane also won an
acting award for his work in the play.
(Related: At
Tony Awards, Nathan Lane refers to Trump as “the monster in the
White House.”)