Billy Eichner calls out 'all the homophobes on the Supreme Court' in fiery MTV VMAs speech

Billy Eichner raged against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and "all the homophobes" within SCOTUS from the MTV Video Music Awards stage on Sunday night.

"Some of you know me as Billy on the Street, but on Sep. 30 I have a movie coming out called Bros," the actor and comic began, referring to the upcoming LGBTQ rom-com he wrote and starred in.

He noted how "Bros is making history as the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio and the first where every role is played by an openly LGBTQ actor." Though, to be fair, regarding the first part of his statement, Fire Island, released by Disney's Searchlight Pictures on Hulu this past June, and Love, Simon, released in theaters by 20th Century Fox in 2018, both predate Bros as gay rom-coms from major studios.

Theo Wargo/Getty Billy Eichner slams "all the homophobes in the Supreme Court" during his MTV VMAs speech.

"And I need you all there in theaters on Sep. 30," Eichner continued, "'cause we need to show all the homophobes like Clarence Thomas and all the homophobes on the Supreme Court that we want gay love stories and we support LGBTQ people and we are not letting them drag us back into the last century because they are past and Bros is the future. Are you with me, VMAs?!" The celebrity-filled audience erupted in cheers and applause at Eichner's words.

When the Supreme Court overturned the landmark verdict Roe v. Wade, which had secured access to abortion procedures in the U.S. for close to 50 years, Thomas wrote a concurring opinion. In it, he said SCOTUS "should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell."

Obergefell v. Hodges is the one that must've been on Eichner's mind when he made his speech Sunday. The 2015 case made same-sex marriage a constitutional right in America. Since then, some Republicans have echoed Thomas' opinion. Texas Senator Ted Cruz said in July that SCOTUS was "clearly wrong" and "overreaching" when ruling in favor of Obergefell v. Hodges. Democrats on Capital Hill have since begun attempts to codify the ruling to secure same-sex marriage rights.

Following the VMAs, Eichner tweeted, "WE WILL NOT GO BACKWARDS!!! GO BROS!!!!"

Watch the speech in the video above.

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