Patricia Arquette Pays Tribute To Alexis Arquette During 2019 Emmy Acceptance Speech

Patricia Arquette gave a compelling speech about transgender rights after she won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for The Act at the 2019 Emmy Awards.

The 51-year-old actress lost her transgendered sister Alexis to a cardiac arrest related to HIV in September, 2016. Alexis was an actor and transgender activist who transitioned in the early 2000s. Patricia used her Emmy award to honor her sister and bring awareness to issues that the LGBTQ community is facing.

“In my heart, I’m so sad I lost my sister Alexis and that trans people are still being persecuted,” the actress told the audience during her speech. “I’m in mourning every day of my life, Alexis and I will be the rest of my life for you until we change the world so that trans people are not persecuted and give them jobs.”

After moving backstage, Arquette said, “I really miss my sister and I really want to help create a world where … you know, trans women of color live on the lowest amount of any group of people in America, under $10,000 a year, deep poverty. Trans people in America have a life expectancy of 35 years. That’s not acceptable. And still, jokes are common and we don’t see people getting employed everywhere. And you don’t see them, so we really need to change this,”

This hasn’t been a first time when the actress demanded equality during her on-stage speech. Back in 2015 she also spoke about the issue during her Oscar speech.