While receiving the Ally for Equality award at the Human Rights Campaign gala on Saturday, Shonda Rhimes spoke about her belief that television should not only be diverse, it should be a reflection of what actually goes on in people's lives, Entertainment Weekly reports.

"You should get to turn on the TV and see your tribe," Rhimes said. "And your tribe can be any kind of person, any one you identify with, anyone who feels like you, who feels like home, who feels like truth."

Rhimes also said she preferred the term "normalizing" in her speech on television. Rhymes revealed that she is not a fan of the word diversity in regards to television content.

"I really hate the word 'diversity.' It suggests something other," Rhimes continued. "As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV. I have a different word: normalizing. I'm normalizing TV. I am making TV look like the world looks."

In addition to speaking on the need for normalization on television, Rhimes was also candid about her passion for writing that emerged during her childhood.

Rhimes revealed that her production company, Shondaland, first started when she was a young girl who had a thirst for writing, says Entertainment Tonight.

It was her writing as a child that helped propel the successful career she has now and saved her life, she explained.

"You see, Shondaland, the imaginary land of Shonda, has existed since I was 11 years old. I built it in my mind as a place to hold my stories. A safe place," Rhimes revealed.

She added, "[Shondaland is] space for my characters to exist, a space for me to exist. Until I could get the hell out of being a teenager and could run out into the world and be myself. Less isolated, less marginalized, less invisible in the eyes of my peers. Until I could find my people in the real world."

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