Billy Porter Opens Outfest with Debut ‘Everything Is Possible’ and Passionate ‘Soapbox’ Speech: “F**k SCOTUS!”

40^I The Outfest edition continues in Los Angeles after an exciting opening night with Billy Porter promoting his new film and presenting the festival’s best LGBTQIA+ award to the Supreme Court.

“Damn Scotus!” Porter said he received applause from the Orpheum Theater audience. Roe v. “We’ve worked hard to move forward and we’re not going back,” said Porter, in anticipation that Wade and the court could review other decisions that uphold consensual gay sex and gay marriage.

Describing this part of his speech as a “soapbox moment”, he also focused on the January 6 hearings examining former President Trump’s role in the capital uprising. “None of your Republicans appearing at these hearings right now are heroes,” he said. “You agreed with him on everything. [Trump] He did this until January 6, when his cult followers arrived. You are not a hero. Cheer up, too.” “Preacher!” one of the audience shouted encouragingly.

Porter makes his directorial debut with film everything is possibleis a romantic comedy that follows her new romance with a black trans high school senior and an Arab-American boy. Eva Raine and Abu Bakr Ali, who starred in the film, presented Porter with the festival’s highest honor, the 2022 Outfest Annual Achievement Award, and urged the left not to fall into complacency.

“Our message must change. Democrats, progressives, we thought we had gained something. We have civil rights, Roe v. Wade, we have gay marriage, we have everything else. We have a black president. “Then we all rode donkeys and ate bombs for eight years, and then something incredible happened,” he said. “We’re a part of that too. Frederick Douglass said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. We’ve lost our surveillance. It’s time to pull this nonsense back.”

Continuing his analysis, he said: “Our 24-hour news cycle has neglected to acknowledge the reason for the pullback. [from the right] It is very difficult right now because the change has already happened. We are already here. Watch me, watch this movie, watch! The celebration of trans joy centers on an empowered black trans woman who has the cutest Arab Muslim boyfriend and has the courage to demand respect for her humanity.

Before the political commentary, Porter took an in-depth look at Pilgrim’s advancement in the entertainment industry and talked about her debut in New York in the 1990s in a role that didn’t showcase her full talent.

“How would I get the role of a young angel on Broadway in the 1994 revival? oilShe said: “With 14 inches of orange Dairy Queen hair flying over my head like a cracked Little Richard machine, how was I supposed to be taken seriously as an artist?”

Around 2000, he moved from New York to Los Angeles, but said he never saw a warm welcome in Hollywood.

“I quickly realized that [neither] The industry and the world were prepared for the joy of this little black man,” he recalls. “I can count with the fingers of a hand how many auditions I’ve auditioned in the almost three years I’ve lived here. My closet was pretty rough. I wouldn’t have thought of it if the character description didn’t start with “great…”

Thinking of the old times, he said: “There was no Internet. No social network said I had my voice. Actually, the message I got from the universe was the opposite: “Shut up black, nobody wants to hear from you. Nobody cares.” And as the stories in the marketplace expanded and queer narratives began to emerge, there was almost always a gap… from a white male perspective… and it was time to fill that gap. And I challenged myself, dared to fill it.”

But before reaching that goal, he faced more obstacles.

“My biggest challenge in finding my own voice in over a decade was 2007. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in February of that same year. I filed for bankruptcy in March and was diagnosed with HIV in June. And that’s what he feared most. He’s a total racist. and i became a correct statistic for homophobic. The world said it would,” he said. “That’s when I came to Jesus. Would I still choose life?

He chose to continue. The breakthrough came with the 2013 musical adaptation. curly boots, which earned Porter a Tony Award. The following year, Shaw’s cast earned him a Grammy Award. Then in 2018, Porter rose to fame in the FX series. exposureMemorably plays Pray Tell, New York’s underground dance scene. This earned him an Emmy in 2019.

Then Tony came, Grammy came, Amy came. And now, here, at the opening of my directorial debut,” he said, before pointing to the title of his movie. “Anything is really possible.”

Porter spoke to and compared Deadline on the red carpet before accepting the Outfest award. everything is possible Films written by John Hughes sixteen candles Y pink beautifulThe first thing Porter saw decades ago.

“As a black gay, although I was very inspired by John Hughes, I had to switch to characters I was friendly with because they were all white,” Porter said. “[Anything’s Possible] Take the gender and place people who are similar to the world as it is today. And it’s magnificent. “

everything is possible It launches July 22 on Amazon Prime Video. Porter shot the movie in 25 days in her hometown of Pittsburgh with most of the newcomers, as well as veteran teacher Renee Ellis Goldsbury, who plays the supportive mother of trans teen Kelsa (Reign). Young stars welcomed the new director.

“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had working with a director,” said Kelly Lamore Wilson, who plays Kelsa’s blue-haired friend Spitfire Chris. The casting director also set that tone early on: “We’re a family and a community, and I’m here for you. There is no hierarchy.”

“It makes everyone feel seen and heard,” Raine said of Porter. “He also wants to make sure everyone has fun on set. I mean, I just had a ball.”

A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Ali has appeared in several recent TV series. The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Ali told Deadline: “As an actor, you want a director who gives you space to play, understands you, and trusts you to play in that space.” Billy really did it. For me, he gave me a lot of confidence in this character.”

On the red carpet, Outfest CEO Damien Navarro praised Porter and screenwriter Lecuona.

“What really appealed to us was the script itself, the fact that Ximena has just created this beautiful story,” Navarro said. “I’m so excited that Billy found this movie, brought it to the level Billy could do, and created a great story that I think not only the nation but the world needs right now.”