Anne Hathaway denounces white and straight privilege at awards ceremony

On Saturday night at the 22nd annual Human Rights Campaign national dinner, 35-year-old actress Anne Hathaway was recognized for using her powerful voice to fight for LGBTQ equality.

“I really needed this,” she said as she accepted the award in the nations capitol, which was presented by her Oceans 8 co-star Awkwafina, who called Hathaway “my friend and sister.”

“I think I’m probably walking around like most people right now. I’m pretty shell shocked by what I see every day, what I hear everyday,” said the star. “And I really don’t like to admit this, but I get scared.”

Speaking to the ladies, gentlemen and “gentlethem,” the Oscar winner denounced white, straight and cisgender privilege.

“It is important to acknowledge with the exception of [not] being a cisgender male, everything about how I was born has put me at the current center of a damaging and widely accepted myth,” she said.

“That myth is that gayness orbits around straightness, transgender orbits around cisgender, and that all races orbit around whiteness.”

She learned to reject this idea when she spent time with her older brother, who is gay, and the LGBTQ community.

Anne and her gay brother, Michael Hathaway

“I appreciate this community because together we are not going to just question this myth, we are going to destroy it,” she told the crowd. “Let’s tear this world apart and build a better one.”

“Through her incredible talent and bold activism, Anne Hathaway uses her global platform to stand up for the LGBTQ community,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “From speaking out against discriminatory legislation targeting the LGBTQ community to her leadership on workplace equality for women, Anne is making a real difference in the lives of countless people around the globe.”

Check out Hathaway’s speech below: