Watch: Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor dedicates Emmy to trans community
By Will Stroude
It was quite the night for Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor at last night’s Emmy Awards, where the veteran actor dedicated his award the the transgender community after taking home the prize for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
It was a first Emmy win in seven nominations for the 71-year-old, who stars as transwoman Maura Pfefferman in the critically-acclaimed Amazon Prime drama about a retired college professor who comes out to his family as transgender later in life.
“I’d like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community,” Tambor said.
“Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for letting us be part of the change.”
The show’s creator Jill Soloway, who was inspired to make the show after her own experiences of having a transgender parent, also delivered a moving speech on trans rights after picking up the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
“Something interesting about my moppa Carrie. She could tomorrow go and try and find an apartment, and in 32 states it would be legal for the landlord to look her in the eye and say ‘we don’t rent to trans people”, Soloway said.
“We don’t have a trans tipping point yet, we have a trans civil rights problem.”
Watch the pair’s Emmy acceptance speeches below:
In his opening monologue for the evening, host Andy Samberg delivered a few brilliant barbs about Kim Davis – watch his speech in full here.
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