P!nk Empowers Gender Non-Conforming Kids with Emotional Speech Dedicated to Her Bullied Daughter

After a jaw-dropping medley of her greatest hits, P!nk accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at last night's MTV Video Music Awards and delivered an emotional speech to empower her daughter and gender non-conforming kids everywhere.

Ellen Degeneres presented P!nk with the prestigious award, and upon accepting, the rock superstar began to tell a story about her 6-year-old daughter, Willow.

"Recently, I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me out of the blue, 'Mama?' And I said, 'Yes baby?' And she said, 'I’m the ugliest girl I know.' And I said, 'Huh?' And she was like, 'Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair." And my brain went to 'oh my God you’re six, why? Where is this coming from? Who said this? Can I kick a six-year-old's ass?'

And I didn’t say anything, and instead I went home and I made a PowerPoint presentation for her. And in that presentation were androgynous rock stars and artists that live their truth. Who are probably made fun every day of their life and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us. These are artists like Michael Jackson and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury and Annie Lenox and Prince and Janis Joplin and George Michael and Elton John. So many artists… her eyes glazed over.

I said, 'I really want to know why you feel this way about yourself?' And she said, 'I look like a boy.' And then I said, 'What do I look like?' And she said, 'Well, you’re beautiful.' And I said, 'Well, thanks.'

But when people make fun of me that's what they use. That’s what they us!. I look like a boy. That I’m too masculine. That my body is too strong. I have too many opinions. And I said to her, 'Do you see me growing my hair?' She said, 'No, mama.' 'Do you see my changing my body?' She said, 'No, mama.' 'Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world?' She said, 'No, mama.' 'Do you see selling out arenas all over the world?' She said, 'Yes, mama.'

So, baby girl, we don’t change. We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. We help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty."

She concluded the powerful speech by speaking directly to her daughter, "You, my darling girl, are beautiful. I love you."

Watch P!nk's acceptance speech below.