LGBT Outfest to Honor Hilary Swank and 15th Anniversary of ‘Boys Don’t Cry’
The Los Angeles-based non-profit, Outfest, has just announced the honorees for its annual Legacy Awards. Based on its mission to promote LGBT equality on and off screen, Outfest has selected three individuals whose work has made a significant impact on the LGBT community. This year’s Legacy Awards will honor actress Hilary Swank for the 15th anniversary of “Boys Don’t Cry,” author Armistead Maupin for the 20th anniversary of his television adaptation of “Tales of the City” and Levi Strauss & Co for their continuous and unwavering support for the LGBT community.
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Outfest Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer said “Armistead Maupin’s diverse, interconnected community of San Francisco bohemians — which shaped our collective fantasy of what LGBT life is and could be – may stand in stark contrast to Hilary Swank’s all-too-real portrayal of a trans man who is murdered in ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ but the two have one important thing in common: They are stories that inspire change. For decades now, that change has been underway at Levi Strauss & Co., which has consistently taken a stand for equality by, for instance, granting employees domestic partner benefits long before other major corporations did the same. This is our legacy.”
Outfest partnered with UCLA Film & Television Archive in 2005 to create the Outfest UCLA Legacy project–a program designed to preserve LGBT moving images that are in danger of expiring. The only program of its kind in the world, the Legacy Project started the Legacy Awards as a fundraiser to continue their important work.
Outfest Board Vice President and The Legacy Awards Event Chair Ari Karpe said, “The Legacy Project does exceptional work, and I felt that it was time for an event that equals it in caliber and impact. To celebrate our collective legacy by honoring worthy artists and important allies in a grand space – with dinner by a great Los Angeles chef – is only the beginning of what will be a new Outfest tradition.”
The awards and dinner will take place on November 12. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, October 7, 2014. For further information about tickets, tribute journal or sponsorship opportunities please visit Outfest’s website.
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