FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Steve Majors | CommunicationsDirector
202.664.0079│smajors@familyequality.org
CALIFORNIA MARRIAGE ADVOCATE CHAD GRIFFIN AMONG HONOREES THIS SATURDAY
Griffin, Prop 8 Plaintiffs, Rob Reiner, Dustin Lance Black & “Modern Family” Stars to Join Family Equality Council for LA Awards Dinner
Washington, D.C. – (Feb. 9, 2012) – Family Equality Council, the national organization that connects, supports, and represents the one million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parents raising two million children in the U.S., is proud to announce that Chad Griffin will be among the honorees for the 2012 Los Angeles Awards Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Universal Studios’ Globe Theatre.
Griffin is Co-founder and Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights – the group behind the federal court case to overturn California’s Proposition 8 amendment that banned same-sex couples from marriage.
Family Equality Council Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler said the organization was pleased to honor Griffin so soon after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
“It’s an incredible privilege for us to honor Chad’s efforts, not only on behalf of the more than 15,000 LGBT parents raising children in California, but on behalf of all our families nationwide,” said Chrisler. “Chad is working to create a world where our families can be valued for their love and commitment to one another. He is a champion for love, justice and family equality.”
“I thank the Family Equality Council for this honor,” said AFER Board President Chad Griffin. “On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed what the Family Equality Council has for thirty years: How we are born and who we choose to love should not be a basis for discrimination in this country. Every American, regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation deserves the same dignity, the same freedom to love and to marry and to build a family.”
Family Equality Council will also honor former Pennsylvania Representative Patrick Murphy, who helped lead the opposition to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; and Todd Parr, the award-winning children’s book author.
Acclaimed writer/director Rob Reiner and “Modern Family” star Eric Stonestreet are among the award presenters for the evening.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Broadway performer, and star of “Modern Family,” will perform.
Special guests will include the plaintiffs in Prop 8 case and award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.
The 2012 Awards Dinner will mark the beginning of a year-long national celebration of Family Equality Council’s 30th anniversary and demonstrate the organization’s renewed commitment to creating a better world for the parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, friends and allies, who are part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
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