MILK Acceptance Speeches

YouTube will take this video down soon, but if you missed it last night, here is Sean Penn's acceptance speech.



I'm posting this, as opposed to some other great speeches, because some people have been saying "Why even bring up the gay issues?" Well, it's not like Andrew Stanton won for WALL-E and is preaching about equal rights. Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black won for a film about equal rights, so it would almost seem inappropriate if they didn't mention them. There is clearly support for the winners, the film, and Harvey Milk himself, and there's nothing wrong with them acknowledging the message of their film.

I bring this up because Sean Penn said something so great in his speech (shocking as that may be):

"...for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight; and I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

Poor grammar on Penn's account aside, that is a great point. And it's true. We do have to have equal rights for everyone.