Sam Smith dedicates first Oscar to LGBT community

British singer Sam Smith dedicated his first Oscar win to the members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community at Sunday night's (28Feb16) ceremony.

The Grammy winner can add a coveted Academy Award to his trophy shelf thanks to his and co-writer Jimmy Napes' win for Writing's On The Wall, the theme song from latest James Bond film Spectre.

The 23-year-old was nearly speechless when he beat out the likes of Lady Gaga and The Weeknd, saying to the crowd, "I actually can't breathe right now. To all the nominees, you're incredible. Gaga, you're incredible."

Smith then mentioned a recent article written by Sir Ian McKellen, who noted that no openly gay man has won an Oscar, but was referring to acting categories only.

None the less, Smith told the audience, "I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen that said that no openly gay man had ever owned an Oscar and if this is the case, even if it isn't the case, I wanna dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world. I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day."

Other openly gay men who have previously won the trophy include Sir Elton John, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and producer Scott Rudin.

As he spoke to reporters backstage after their win, Sam was informed he had not made history by becoming the first openly gay Oscar winner.

Learning that, Sam replied, "F**k! F**k that!" according to USA Today.

However, he then added of the honor: "It means the world to me. When I read the Ian McKellen piece I was just bowled over by it. I wanted to take this opportunity to show how much I care about my community. In the past in my career people had said that I didn’t."

This is the second prominent accolade Smith and Napes have won for the track - last month (Jan16), they earned a similar honor at the Golden Globe Awards.