Lena Waithe attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala on May 7, 2018, in New York.
Image: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

The annual Met Gala is one of fashion’s biggest nights out, and while many celebrities and attendees showed up in style, actress Lena Waithe stole the show on Monday.

Waithe, who is openly gay, made a powerful statement at the event in a black suit with a massive rainbow cape, a striking display of LGBTQ pride and solidarity. In light of the evening’s theme, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and the Catholic church’s controversial stance on homosexuality, Waithe’s choice of clothing was bold — and not just because of its color palette.

“The theme to me is, like, ‘Be yourself,’” Waithe told the New York Times. “You were made in God’s image, right?”

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In her Emmy acceptance speech last fall, the “Master of None” writer and actress famously called on members of the LGBTQIA community to “put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it.” 

Not content with an imaginary cape, Waithe took things a step further at the Met Gala. 

“Tonight, this cape is not imaginary, it’s rainbow-colored,” she told Vogue on the red carpet. “And we got the black and brown, you know. I’m reppin’ my community, and I want everybody to know that you can be whoever you are, and be completely proud.”

And her message of inclusivity and acceptance clearly resonated with many who took to social media to praise her fashion statement.

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TopicsDiscriminationEqualityDiversityLGBTQ rightsPrideLena WaitheMet Gala

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Lena Waithe Made a Bold Statement at the Met Gala and the Internet Is Here for It

By Daniele Selby