Beyonce and Jay Z won the GLAAD Media Award

The Beverly Hilton underwent hundreds of emotions Thursday night as everybody assembled for the GLAAD Media Awards. The award stands for LGBTQIA representation, and The Vanguard Award is presented every year to the allies who make a difference in promoting acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. Previous recipients include Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Cher, Demi Lovato and Britney Spears. Last night, this award was presented to the power-couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z. To present this award, Beyonce’s long-time stylist and friend Ty Hunter and Emmy-award winning writer Lena Waithe took the stage. Waithe called them “the most powerful black couple” and joked that they might have to compete with the Obamas for that title.

After receiving this introduction, hip-hop’s first couple took the stage. Both delivered a very moving speech. Beyoncé said ‘“We’re here to promote love for every human being and change starts with supporting the people closest to you, so let’s tell them that they are loved, let’s remind them they are beautiful, let’s speak out and protect them, and parents, let’s love our kids in their truest form. I hope they we continue to shift the stigmas in this community, especially the stigmas in black families.” She concluded by acknowledging her husband “for making incredible strides toward changing stigmas in the hip hop community,” adding that she was proud “to watch him take those steps and to stand right next to him.”

For the ceremony, Jay-Z picked a pink Tuxedo paired with a white shirt and black bow-tie, along with black trousers. Beyoncé picked out a sartorial black tuxedo dress and completed the look with diamond jewellery.