Patricia Arquette is standing by her views.
Following her Oscar acceptance speech calling for pay equality between men and women, Arquette sparked some criticism when she said during a news conference backstage, “It’s time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people and all the people of color that we’ve all fought for to fight for us now.”
The 46-year-old actress took to Twitter on Monday to respond to critiques that her post-speech comments weren’t inclusive of racial minorities and the LGBT community.
“Guess which women are the most negatively effected in wage inequality? Women of color. #Equalpay for ALL women. Women stand together in this,” Arquette tweeted. She also said she’s “long been an advocate for the rights of the #LGBT community. The question is why aren’t you an advocate for equality for ALL women?”
On Sunday night, Arquette won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in “Boyhood” and used her moment on stage to address the issue of wage equality between men and women.
“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s rights,” Arquette said. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
The statement caused audience members to erupt in applause, most notably Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez.
Criticism of Arquette’s backstage comments: