More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
Director Lana Wachowski Gives Moving Acceptance Speech For Visibility Award
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 2:43pm by Dani Heffernan, Media Research Associate at GLAAD
At a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, Hollywood film director Lana Wachowski was honored with the organization’s Visibility Award. The Hollywood Reporter exclusively shared Lana’s acceptance speech, in which she spoke at length about public visibility, challenged media narratives of transgender lives, and recounted experiences from her youth through to her current life with honesty, humor, and wit.
Lana ended her speech, saying, “I am here because when I was young, I wanted very badly to be a writer, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn’t find anyone like me in the world and it felt like my dreams were foreclosed simply because my gender was less typical than others. If I can be that person for someone else then the sacrifice of my private civic life may have value.”
You can read The Hollywood Reporter’s exlusive interview with Lana Wachowski here, or read a transcript of her speech here.
Marriage Equality at the Supreme Court
This month the United States Supreme Court will issue decisions on two cases critical to marriage equality. GLAAD is working with media outlets and couples around the country to push for marriage. Follow GLAAD for up to date news about the Supreme Court's decision at www.glaad.org/marriage