Lady Gaga makes surprise appearance at World Pride in NYC

“I am so emotional today, this community has fought and continued to fight a war of acceptance, a war of tolerance, and of the most relentless bravery. You are the definition of courage.”

“The universe brought us together in the spirit of kindness, and together we’re a powerhouse. I hope you celebrate every inch of who you are today. You were born this way and you are superstars!” she said, championing the safe space the current generation has created for queer youths to come out of the closet and openly express their gender identities. “I will continue to fight every day during shows, and even when I’m not on stage, to spread a message that’s actually quite simple: Be kind. And that kindness belongs to you. It always has belonged to you, even when the world was not kind, it belonged to you; all the galaxies, stars, and even God, I know [they] all had your back. So today, and I hope every day: Dance, sing, rejoice, worship yourself, worship each other!”

“It is said that those who threw the first brick on that historic night were members of the trans community. And while we have made tremendous progress, we find ourselves at a time where attacks on the trans community are on an increasing rise each day. I will not tolerate this,” proclaimed Gaga. “That distance between us and them — those who are not listening and who do not understand — that is the space for an important dialogue as a community and how we all move forward together to change the system of an extremely oppressive administration. I know that you will not stop. You will never give up… You don’t back down. You don’t shrink into shame… Be bold and embrace the Stonewall legacy. Love each other raise your voice and my gosh, vote, don’t forget to vote!”

“This is my mothership, and you are my leaders and I will follow you. I surrender to all hatred because, you know what, I will kill it with kindness,” concluded Gaga. “True love is when you would take a bullet for someone, and you know that I would take a bullet for you any day of the week.”