FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Steve Majors | Communications Director
202.664.0079│smajors@familyequality.org
Photos available upon request or at Getty Images: http://www.gettyimages.com
“MODERN FAMILY” STARS, ROB REINER, DUSTIN LANCE BLACK AND PROP 8 OPPONENT CHAD GRIFFIN CELEBRATE FAMILY EQUALITY AT LA AWARDS DINNER
Washington, D.C. – (Feb. 12, 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., proudly honored several advocates of family equality at the organization’s annual awards dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The award honorees included Chad Griffin, the 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; former Pennsylvania Representative Patrick Murphy, who helped lead opposition to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; and Todd Parr, the award-winning children’s book author.
Presenters and performers for the evening included acclaimed writer/director Rob Reiner and “Modern Family” stars Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Special guests included award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and the plaintiffs in the Proposition 8 case, Kris and Sandy Stier and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo.
Family Equality Council Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler said the organization was pleased to recognize the honorees and acknowledge their work to create a better world for all American families.
“We stand together at a crucial moment in our history,” said Chrisler. “Never before have families with parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender been so visible; so united, and so full of hope. Yet as incredible as the progress in California and other states has been this past year and over the 30 years of our existence, we must acknowledge there are still many who are actively trying to deny our families their freedom, happiness, and rights.”
“Our honorees have given us renewed hope that future generations will look back on this time and know that this was the moment when we achieved real milestones in changing attitudes and laws so that our families were respected, protected, and celebrated.”
The 2012 Awards Dinner marked the beginning of a year-long national celebration of Family Equality Council’s 30th anniversary and demonstrated 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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