Actress, model and trans activist Laverne Cox delivered a powerful keynote speech at Creating Change 2014, the largest annual gathering of activists and leaders in the LGBT movement.

The conference, which is run by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, attracts more than 3,500 people from all over the United States every year. Cox speaks candidly about her struggles growing up. She highlights the amazing work done by various trans activists, discusses the case of CeCe McDonald, and her subsequent release from prison.

Cox was taken aback by support she received from the audience, saying, “This feels so amazing, all this love that you’re giving me tonight.

“I have to say that a black, transgender woman from a working class background raised by a single mother — that’s me — getting all this love tonight. This feels like the change I need to see more of in this country.”

Watch the entire keynote speech below. 

Read The Outmost’s interview with Laverne Cox.