Pink makes emotional speech celebrating non-binary expression

Rock star Pink made an emotional speech defending gender non-conforming people at the MTV Video Music Awards.

She made the speech while accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, Pink News has reported.

Pink shared a story about her six-year-old daughter, Willow, who often wears masculine clothes and recently said she felt “ugly” and “like a boy with long hair”.

Pink said she prepared a presentation for her daughter, highlighting androgynous artists including Freddie Mercury, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Annie Lennox and Prince.

She told her daughter they “live their truth, are probably made fun of every day of their life, and carry on, and wave their flag, and inspire the rest of us”.

The singer said, “They say that I look like a boy, or I am too masculine—too many opinions, my body is too strong.”

She asked her daughter, “Do you see me growing my hair? Do you see me changing my body? Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world? [But] do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?”

Pink closed her speech with one final message to her daughter: “You, my darling girl, are beautiful, and I love you.”

In the wake of Donald Trump’s trans ban for the US military, six trans members of the military attended the VMAs as guests.

MTV has taken a stand on a number of other LGBTI issues recently, shutting down its Australian programming last week to encourage viewers to enrol to vote for marriage equality, and making its awards gender neutral earlier this year.