Look To The Stars News: Dustin Lance Black

John Legend To Perform At Characters Unite Storytelling Event

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

USA Network and The Moth present will present A More Perfect Union: Stories of Prejudice and Power – a Characters Unite Storytelling Event – on February 15.  

Hosted by Tony and Emmy Award winner Nathan Lane, the event will feature stories by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Golden Globe winner & Academy Award nominee Octavia Spencer, as well as Aimee Mullins and Greg Walloch.

Special guest for the evening will be Matt Bomer, star of USA’s White Collar, and there will be a special performance by Grammy Award winner John Legend Also expected to attend are Willie Garson, Corbin Bernsen, Bruce Campbell and many more.

Stars Take On 8 For Charity

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:15:00 +0000

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact are proud to announce an all-star cast for the West Coast premiere of “8,” a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black and directed by acclaimed actor and director and AFER Founding Board Member Rob Reiner.

“8” is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry.

Black, who penned the Academy Award-winning feature film Milk and the new critically-acclaimed film J. Edgar, based “8” on the actual words of the trial transcripts, first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families.

Lady Gaga Honored At Trevor Live Celebrity Charity Event

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

On Sunday, December 4, 2011, The Trevor Project honored Lady Gaga with the Trevor Hero Award and Google Inc. with the Trevor 2020 Award during “Trevor Live” presented by Audi of America and ING and directed by Adam Shankman.

This high-profile event to benefit the life-saving work of The Trevor Project featured moving performances from Hollywood’s most talented and entertaining performers, including Mary J. Blige, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, LeAnn Rimes, Barrett Foa and the Warblers, Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough, JC Chasez, American Idol contestants Kris Allen and Stefano Langone, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Darren Criss, Step up Dance, and Amber Riley.

Lady Gaga, in a moving speech delivered from the heart shared that, “I want my fans and people all over the world to know that there is always someone who is listening, but I want them to know that they are listening before it gets too late.” She went on to say about The Trevor Project honor, “This award means more to me than any Grammy ever will.”

Celebrities To Wear Purple For Spirit Day

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will join millions of lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and allies by participating in Spirit Day and wearing purple on October 20, 2011.

Wearing purple on this day symbolizes support for LGBT people and against bullying of LGBT teens.

GLAAD is working with organizations including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the PACER Center, GLSEN, GSA Network, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), PFLAG and The Trevor Project as part of National Bullying Prevention Month to inspire Americans to wear purple on Spirit Day.

Celebrity Cast For New Proposition 8 Play

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:30:00 +0000

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), in partnership with Broadway Impact, has announced additional casting and roles for the highly anticipated one-night only staged reading of “8,” a new play chronicling the historic trial in the federal legal challenge to California’s Proposition 8.

The play is written by AFER Founding Board Member and Academy Award-winning writer Dustin Lance Black and will be directed by two-time Tony Award-winning actor and director Joe Mantello.

Academy, Tony and four-time Emmy Award nominee Bob Balaban; acclaimed “White Collar” television star Matt Bomer; Emmy Award-winning journalist Campbell Brown; celebrated playwright and gay rights activist Larry Kramer; two-time Academy Award-nominated, multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, two-time Tony Award-winning actor John Lithgow; Tony Award nominee and Broadway Impact Co-Founder Rory O’Malley; and Emmy Award winner and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Bradley Whitford will appear in the world premiere of “8” on Broadway, joining the previously announced Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei. The production is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples in California.

Dustin Lance Black Supports Homecoming Project For LGBT Youth

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

As a new school year begins, the Homecoming Project is urging successful lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults to join its campaign to provide positive role models for LGBT high school students.

Research has shown that many LGBT youth actively seek role models to help compensate for the support they lose when they come out to family and friends. The Homecoming Project, created by the non-profit organization Live Out Loud, aims to bridge that gap and provide LGBT youth with the positive role models they so desperately need. The call to action is simple: for successful LGBT adults to go back to their high schools and talk about their experiences.

“Our goal is to create a support system for youth by presenting positive role models whose experiences serve as real examples of success,” said Leo Preziosi, Jr., founder and executive director of Live Out Loud. “High school is a critical stage in growing up and creating your own individuality, yet so many LGBT youth are still looking for role models from our communities to help them in this journey.”

Natalie Portman Joins Celebrities In Supporting Freedom To Marry

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Natalie Portman and her fiance, Benjamin Millepied, are the latest stars to sign a letter urging Barack Obama to consider the marriage rights of same-sex couples.

The I Do letter has gained the support of 100,000 people, including Lance Bass, Dustin Lance Black, Ellen and Portia DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, David Geffen, Anne Hathaway, Cyndi Lauper, Jane Lynch, Eric McCormack, LeAnn Rimes, Martin Sheen, Lily Tomlin and Rufus Wainwright.

“Natalie Portman and her fiance, Benjamin Millepied, are in love, and believe all loving couples should be able to share in the freedom to marry without discrimination,” says Evan Wolfson, president of campaign group Freedom to Marry, "That is why they are joining the more than 100,000 people on Freedom to Marry’s Say, “I Do” Open Letter calling on the president to do the right think and become part of America’s majority for marriage."

Kim Catrall Honored At GLAAD Awards

Mon, 16 May 2011 15:00:00 +0000

On Saturday night, GLAAD honored the media’s most outstanding images of the LGBT community at the GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco, presented nationally by ROKK Vodka and locally by Southwest Airlines. Advocates, allies and celebrities joined host Naya Rivera (Glee) at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis to celebrate the people and stories that are moving Americans toward equality for all.

Kim Cattrall at GLAAD Media Awards

Milk Screenwriter To Be Honored By Charity

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, film and television producer Dustin Lance Black will be honored at a special gala event in Hollywood this weekend.

Best known for being the screenwriter of Milk, starring Sean Penn, Dustin Lance Black will receive the honor at the New Technicolor Building Plaza at Sunset Gower Studios on Saturday, June 13, in an event that promises to feature a festive cocktail party and silent auction. Proceeds from the event will go to LifeWorks, an organization that offers mentoring opportunities for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth ages 14-24.

Look To The Stars had the pleasure of talking to the writer earlier this year about the inspiration behind Milk and his charity work: "I thought there is so much of [Milk] that is inspiring to today’s generation, not just the gay and lesbian generation but also to say to all the groups of people who are very different, we can come together and when we can work together accepting each others differences, and if we fight for each others civil rights we can win all of our civil rights. That is a message I think should be out there. That not only inspires gay kids but racial and religious minorities. If a kid out there can go and see ‘Milk’ and be like “Yeah I’m really different and that’s really fabulous”, then I think we’ve done our job’."

LTTS Exclusive: An Interview With Dustin Lance Black, "Milk" Screenwriter

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Look To The Stars’ Celebrity Ambassador recently had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with one of Hollywood’s finest writers at the 2009 Writers Guild Awards, the deeply passionate and talented writer of ‘Milk’, Dustin Lance Black. Not only did his script earn him recognition for its humanitarian message from his peers at the Writers Guild Awards, but also an Oscar for best original screenplay.

In speaking to Dustin about what inspired him so deeply about the story of Harvey Milk, he unfolded his heart and invited me in for a refreshingly honest look.

Dustin hailed from Texas where he was raised by a devote Mormon, military family. For Dustin, this conservative upbringing pulled at his mind and soul in heart wrenching ways, since he knew from a very young age that he was gay. In his family and their community it was taught that gays were evil sinful people that were going to hell, people that deserved no love or union with God.

LTTS Exclusive: Inside A Night To Make A Difference with Host Michelle Vink

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Look To The Stars’ lead host, Michelle Vink was on hand as a host of Leeza Gibbons’ A Night To Make A Difference Fundraiser on Oscar night. Read her story below:

“Without hope, life is just not worth living”…

Those were the words from Harvey Milk from the Oscar-winning movie, Milk. Despite the uncertain state of the economy and the lack of faith we keep hearing about on the news, there was an overwhelming resurgence of hopeful optimism at the Oscars this year. Winning storylines like Slumdog Millionaire and Milk captured that very essence.