“You can live your dreams and wear dresses,” Keiynan Lonsdale said in an emotional speech.
Rejoice, Love, Simon fans. Your coming-of-age favorite took home the trophy for Best Kiss at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards. Love, Simon is the first film featuring a gay teen protagonist to be backed by a major studio.
The movie follows a high school student (Nick Robinson) as he comes out to his family and friends while communicating with a secret crush who is revealed to be his friend Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale). Love, Simon closes with an adorable kiss Simon and Bram as the smooch on a Ferris wheel as their friends applaud. And, that’s the kiss that brought home the Golden Popcorn.
Robinson, who’s on set shooting a movie, was not available to receive the award, but Lonsdale, draped in a glistening gold get-up, was ready for the moment.
“I just want to say to every kid: You can live your dreams and wear dresses; you can live your dreams and kiss the one that you love no matter what gender they are,” he told the audience in a moving speech. “You can live your dreams, and you can believe in magic; you can live your dreams, and you can be yourself.”
Related | Watch Colton Haynes in This Love, Simon Deleted Scene
This is the second consecutive year the MTV Movie & TV Awards celebrated a same-sex kiss between men. Last year, Moonlight actors Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome took home the award for their beachside kiss.
Watch Lonsdale entire speech below.
#MTVAwards: @KeiynanLonsdale wins Best Kiss saying "you can live your dreams and wear dresses" pic.twitter.com/0TitqfNzrt
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 19, 2018