By Marcus Wratten

Copyright thepinknews

Adolescence star Erin Doherty celebrated her first ever Emmy Award by kissing and thanking her girlfriend Sinéad Donnelly.

Doherty, who played child psychologist Briony Ariston in Stephen Graham’s one-take Netflix crime drama Adolescence, took home the accolade for Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series at last night’s (14 September) ceremony.

As award presenters Hunter Schafer and Young Mazino called out Erin Doherty’s name, the actress kissed her partner on the lips, before making her way onto the stage.

The first-time Emmy winner used her acceptance speech to thank Adolescence’s producers Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters for their work on the series, before gushing over Donnelly for making her “the happiest person in the world”.

“Wow, so it’s looking like I’m just gonna be banging on about Adolescence and Owen Cooper for the rest of my life, which, you know, there’s worse things,” Doherty began her speech.

“I would love to mention every single person that was involved in making this show because it was the definition of a team effort, but I can’t get up here without talking about Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters. You are generosity personified,” she continued.

“This is dedicated to my big sister Grace. I wouldn’t be here without you. I love you with all my heart and Sinéad, thank you for making me the happiest person in the world. I love you with everything I’ve got.”

The British actress rounded off her speech by thanking the “f**king stunning” people involved in the Television Academy, which presents the Emmys.

According to Hello! magazine, 33-year-old Doherty went public with her relationship with 35-year-old radiographer Sinead Donnelly back in August.

Earlier this year, the actress spoke on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast about how she came to accept that she’s gay in her mid twenties.

“It took me a really, really long time to finally get to the point where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gay’, but I think, again, because I grew up doing the social thing of going, ‘Oh, OK, well, I’ll have a boyfriend and I’ll do this thing’ and I never questioned it,” she shared.

“Knowing who I was in my heart of hearts, in my soul, it took me a really long time. No one in my life had shown me that that was an option, so I just never applied it to myself so it took a while to really go, ‘Oh, this is something that I can have’, which also leans into the whole people pleaser thing.

“I never really was ready to carve out that path for myself, even though looking back, I always knew that my relationships with men weren’t satisfying in that whole hearted way that I wanted them to be.”

Doherty beat off tough competition in her Emmy category from Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story actress Chloë Sevigny, Dying For Sex star Jenny Slate, Presumed Innocent actress Ruth Negga, The Penguin’s Deirdre O’Connell and her Adolescence co-star, Christine Tremarco.

Adolescence won eight of the 10 Primetime Emmy Awards it was nominated for, with the two losses occurring in categories in which other Adolescence stars won.

The show’s breakout star, 15-year-old Owen Cooper, made history as the youngest male to ever win an Emmy for his role as troubled teen Jamie Miller. Stephen Graham, who played his father Eddie and also created the series, won in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category and the Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category.

Other big LGBTQ+ winners at this year’s Emmy Awards include The Traitors host Alan Cumming, Hacks star Hannah Einbinder, Somebody Somewhere star Jeff Hiller, and Severance star Tramell Tillman, who became the first Black man to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.