Pop megastar Taylor Swift surprised friend Ruby Rose by presenting her with the top honour at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Awards on the weekend.

Rose, who stars in the hit series Orange is the New Black, took the night’s top gong for her contribution to the industry as an openly gay woman.

The actress and DJ knew she would be accepting the award, but was blindsided when friend Swift took to the stage to introduce and present her with the award.

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“Tonight I’m here to honour someone who through her words and through her actions, proves that she is a force of nature,” Swift told the crowd.

“She tells the world that no-one can judge us and no-one can stop us. She is a woman of many talents. She is my friend.”

Rose tearfully greeted Swift onstage, telling the audience: “Of all the possible things that could make me cry, I didn’t think about Taylor Swift coming to give me an award.”

Swift kindly held Rose’s white coat while she gave her acceptance speech, speaking of her struggles with bullying, depression and suicidal thoughts as a child and teenager.

“I felt there was so much wrong with me and there was so much weird about me,” Rose, who recalled feeling “discomfort in anything feminine”, said.

“I practiced looking like a boy. Still do. I got appalled when I got breasts. Sometimes, still do. I spent a lot of time in a very vulnerable place with little to no support.”

Rose said she had been “stalked, verbally abused and beaten until I was hospitalised” leading her to suicide attempts, before eventually finding solace in the library.

The actress and DJ credited TV show The L Word with “saving [her] life”, and noted how far the industry had come in promoting queer characters on screen.

Another rising Aussie star, singer Troye Sivan, won most outstanding music contribution on the night.