Y’all know I love me some J.Lo. Not enough to actively listen to her music or follow her career, but I appreciate her in a more abstract sense. She’s gorgeous, has somewhat tacky taste at times and just seems pretty legit (even if she is a major bitch – which, now that I think of it, kinda makes her even more excellent).
Anyhow, Jenny from the Block was given the Vanguard Award for her work on some show called The Fosters, which apparently helps further LGBT rights, at the GLAAD Awards on Saturday. Rita Moreno presented the award, and during her acceptance speech, Jennifer revealed that she actually has a lesbian aunt who has greatly influenced her life.
The global superstar said she listened to her “heart” and “gut” over her head when making the choice to produce The Fosters. “I’ve always felt tremendous love for the LGBT community and the LGBT community has always supported me and returned that love,” she gushed. “That was one reason I wanted to produce this.” The other? “Was my Aunt Marisa,” Lopez said.
“Tia Marisa was my cool aunt,” the 44-year-old singer shared. “She was my mom’s older sister. I lived in the Bronx and she lived in Manhattan. Like worlds away. And she wanted to be an actress and I always wanted to be like her.”
“Marisa [was] gay in a time [when] life could be very difficult, and that her struggles were mostly kept to herself,” Lopez revealed. “It wasn’t until I got older that I really got to know and appreciate the difficulties that she dealt with and the struggles of her community.”
The NYC native added, “I also realized the lessons I’ve learned from my family about love, tolerance, and acceptance. We loved her… So I wanted to do this because I thought that she would be so proud of me. I thought about that a lot when I was doing this and as I do it now. I think, ‘She would love this.'”
“El amore el el amore,” the Spanish-speaking beauty continued. “The world is changing and that’s because love is stronger than hate. It’s been proven many times tonight.”
Supported by boyfriend Casper Smart, 27, at the event, Lopez concluded, “Love is love and that’s what I tell my children everyday. It’s what we have to make everyone understand so that the world can be a better, safer, more diverse, more inclusive and more loving place and we are on our way.”
Love it! And nice to see an artist who does owe a large part of her career to the gay community really appreciating them and connecting with them. This was so endearing!