Jennifer Coolidge charmed fans with her speech at the GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday evening (30 March).
The actor has received praise and several accolades in recent months for her work in The White Lotus season two.
In the Mike White-created series, she played ditzy socialite Tanya McQuoid. The final episodes of the season saw her befriend a group of gay men and join them on various excursions before things took a fatal turn for most of the gang during a boat ride.
At the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday, rewarding positive LGBTQ+ representation in media, Coolidge helped open up proceedings by taking to the stage with a speech.
“Here I am again, surrounded by gays!” she quipped. “It’s the story of my life.”
“We’re all here for a very important reason,” Coolidge continued.
“We’re here to honour media that helps the world understand and accept the LGBTQ+ community. I have so much respect for the LGBTQ community, and I just want you to know that I love you and I thank you for always being there for me.
“And that’s why I’m here; I wanna give back. I wanna believe that we all have the right to be who we are, and to love the people that we love, and tell our stories and celebrate that in every way that we can.”
Coolidge ended her speech by thanking those present for “being you and inspiring me”, adding: “And now I just want to say: ‘Let’s really have some fun.’”
The actor was then joined on stage by fellow industry veteran Jane Lynch, who acknowledged Coolidge’s continued support of the LGBTQ+ community.
“This wonderful woman here was pro-gay before it was cool to be pro-gay,” Lynch declared.
“She is one of us, ladies and gentlemen. I have always said the world has to catch up to Jennifer Coolidge and the world has caught up to Jennifer Coolidge.”
Earlier this week, reports broke that seemed to confirm the location of the third season of The White Lotus.
