Yahoo News Christina Aguilera Thanks LGBTQ Friends for Support (and Helping Improve Her Sex Skills) While Accepting GLAAD Award
The "Beautiful" singer received the Advocate for Change award at Thursday night’s ceremony
Christina Aguilera took the stage at the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday to both receive and give love.
Handed the Advocate for Change award by Michael Anderson, a survivor of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, Aguilera, 42, said, "Looking out at this audience I see so many familiar faces and beautiful people and I'm so proud to be in this room with all of you."
She continued, "I grew up in this community as most of my lifelong best friends identify as LGBTQ. So much of who I am and what I do is because of each of you, and our shared experience of having to fight for equality and freedom in some capacity."
The star, who's long championed LGBTQ causes, said the community's impact on her life is far-reaching. "Side by side we've learned and taught each other everything about life, from business to relationships to music, family, and partying," she added with a smirk. "I don't know who does it better."
Related:Christina Aguilera Shares Her Most 'Extra' Beauty Ritual and Why a 'Frozen Face' Isn't in Her Future
The star's list of LGBTQ influences ended on a particularly personal note. She detailed picking up some specific, rather explicit, bedroom skills from her non-straight friends, before saying, "I mean, I'm just saying, we know how to get dirty, OK!"
Aguilera then touched on her deep understanding of the very serious issues impacting the LGBTQ community. "While I've had years of incredible moments with this family, the community has endured decades of fighting and we will continue to do so. I'm constantly impressed by your examples of the courage it takes to fight for acceptance, respect and safety that every human being deserves," she said, "which happens to be the core message of the music and art I've created over the years."
The five-time Grammy winner said the pain of violence is something she knows all too well. "When you've been a victim of violence, abuse or trauma, it's incredibly hard and scary to find your voice and fight back," she said. "Having grown up in a home with domestic violence, it was seeing my mom in a powerless position that first ignited the fire in me to speak up for all of the people whose voices don't get heard. And it is not easy."
Aguilera closed out her speech by turning to Michael Anderson, who introduced her, calling him the true hero of the night. "It takes incredible courage to live through violence and then decide, 'I'm going to do something to change it'," she said of the activist who traveled to Washington to speak to lawmakers after the Club Q attack.
She added, "That takes guts. We all need to raise our voices if we want to live in a world that's free of discrimination, hate and violence."
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