Actor Billy Porter has shared a message of optimism with the United States hours before Donald Trump was set to take the stage to give the State of the Union.
The "Pose" actor said in the address, which was his second "LGBTQ State of the Union", that the movement for equality and civil rights is strong, even if still attacked.
"Last year, I told you that the state of our union was strong," Porter said. "And while it's certainly been battered, our union is far from broken."
"So far, our nation has survived the first term of Donald Trump," he continued. "But who's to say what another term would do to this country, to democracy and truly to the entire world."
“The fate of the entire country is in the balance,” he later said in the speech. “It sounds dramatic, but if now is not the time for drama, child, when is?”
The address was streamed live on Youtube, Faebook and Twitter acconts for the LGBTQ brand Logo, which is owned by ViacomCBS.
During the 8-minute speech, the actor stood before a glass podium, flanked on either side by a gay pride flag and a US flag.
Porter's address is just one among many alternate State of the Union speeches that will be given on Tuesday before and after the president's own speech.
The Democratic Party is also providing an alternative, which will be delivered by Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Bernie Sanders is also expected to deliver a response.
