Nick Offerman won Best Supporting Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards for his role as Bill on HBO’s The Last of Us, and he used his speech to call out those who criticized the “Long, Long Time” episode and praise HBO for airing the episode.

Offerman said during his acceptance speech that he was “astonished” to even be nominated, and he went on to praise HBO for “having the guts” to tell powerful stories.

“Stories with guts, that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ We say, ‘Because you ask questions like that.’ It’s not a gay story. It’s a love story, you asshole. So more of that,” he said (via The Hollywood Reporter). You can watch Offerman’s acceptance speech below.

Offerman starred as Bill opposite Murray Bartlett as Frank in the Season 1 episode “Long, Long Time” that chronicled the love story between the two characters that blossomed and grew in the apocalypse. Steven Spielberg loved the episode so much he wrote to showrunner Craig Mazin to applaud him.

Bill and Frank appeared in just one episode of The Last of Us through a flashback, and the characters are not coming back in Season 2. Offerman was not even supposed to be in The Last of Us, as the role of Bill was originally given to Con O’Neill before he had to drop out due to scheduling issues.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is now in production. Season 2 brings back Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, with new cast members coming aboard including Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Young Mazino (Jesse), and Isabela Merced (Dina). The upcoming season debuts in 2025.