Kerry Washington's speech that brought crowds to their feet.

Not a ‘I want to thank my agent’ in sight…

If you watch Scandal, you are already obsessed with this woman. And if you don’t, you are about to be obsessed with this woman.

The exceptionally excellent Kerry Washington accepted a Vanguard Award at the 26^th Annual GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards for her support as a powerful LGBT “ally”. Washington said she received the award because she plays, “characters that belong to segments of society that are often pushed to the margins.”

The 38-year-old began by acknowledging the many groups around the world that are deprived of, “access to basic liberties”.

She said, “Women, poor people, people of colour, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people. We have been pitted against each other and made to feel there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of ‘other.’”

Kerry Washington's speech — “As others, we are taught that to be successful, we must reject those other others, or we will never belong.” Image via Getty.

“As a result, we’ve become afraid of one another. We compete with one another, we judge one another.”

She went on to urge all marginalised groups to unite through their very experience of difference.

“We can’t say that we believe in each other’s fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each other’s existence and the truth of each other’s hearts. We must be allies.”

Perhaps the most powerful thing about Washington’s speech is that it’s surprising at all. That it’s radical for an actress – the Emmy-nominated star of a hit show – to be vocal about these issues.

As Washington says, “Here is the great irony: I don’t decide to play the characters I play as a big political choice, yet the characters I play often do become political statements. Because having your story told as a woman, as a person of color, as a lesbian, or as a trans person, or as any member of any disenfranchised community is sadly often still a radical idea.”

Watch her speech in full below, and be prepared to cheer:

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