See Ryan Murphy accept the Carol Burnett TV Achievement Award at 2023 Golden Globe Awards

During tonight’s Golden Globe Awards, Ryan Murphy was presented with the Carol Burnett Award, an award given for achievement in television.

Murphy kicked off his speech by giving a shout-out to Pose star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as the first trans woman to win a Globe (since last year’s awards ceremony wasn’t televised).

“When I was a young person at home in the ’70s watching ‘The Carol Burnett Show,’ I never ever saw a person like me getting an award or even being a character on a TV show,” Murphy said. “It’s hard being an LGBTQ kid in America, in fact all over the world, then and now.”

In addition to Rodriguez, Murphy paid tribute to other LGBTQ actors he’s worked with throughout his career, including Billy Porter, Matt Bomer, Niecy Nash and Jeremy Pope, who he called “north stars” for LGBTQ youth.

Murphy said that he began his career in Hollywood “to make a point of hope and progress,” before sharing a bit about the adversity each of his past colleagues had overcome, praising their talents, and asking the crowd to give Nash-Betts a standing ovation.

“I never saw a person like me getting an award or a tv show,” he said. “Tonight’s award made me reflect on what a lifetime of achievement really is. You get there, I think, by being fearless like these following people who are here tonight, all heroes of mine.”

Murphy, 57, was chosen for the diversity of his projects and their “thrilling” content and was presented the award by Porter, who told the director, “It was you, Ryan, and your fearless art that spoke to me and comforted me,” before he stepped on stage to accept the award.

Porter said there “aren’t enough words in the English language” for him to convey what he meant to him and described the writer/director/producer as “prolific, visionary, game-changer, trailblazer, champion of truth, fearless, boss man, workaholic, ally, mentor, friend.”

“In the early aughts, when my Black, gay a– decided to come out to Hollywood and try this television thing for the first time, I discovered on day one that Hollywood wasn’t having all this black boy joy — yet,” Porter said, adding that he spent years “teetering on the precipice of obscurity” until Murphy’s “fearless art” spoke to him.

“It was you, Ryan, and your fearless art that spoke to me, comforted me and let me know that if I could just hold on a little while longer my time would come,” Porter continued, saying that fast-forward 16 years “Pose” was greenlit after being passed up “162” times before Murphy said yes.

“Ryan turned out to be the singular ‘yes’ our community needed to finally have our stories, our lives, our souls honored, validated and seen.”