LGBT rights activist, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black speaks at DNC

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

Award winning screenwriter, director, filmmaker and LGBT rights activist Dustin Lance Black spoke at the DNC this Thursday, sharing memories of his mother and their mutual support of Hillary Clinton.

In 2008, Black won an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his 2008 film Milk.

Milk is a biographical film based on the life of Harvey Milk, a politician and gay rights activist, with Sean Penn starring as Milk. Milk was the first openly gay person elected to public office in the state of California.

The movie earned major acclaim after its release, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. It won Best Original Screenplay, and Penn took home the Best Actor in a Leading Role award.

Black is a founding member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has fought for full federal marriage equality for Americans since 2009.

AFER was the sole sponsor of the federal constitutional challenges to California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

In response to the fight against Proposition 8, Black wrote “8”, an all-star casted play that was based on transcripts of the case. Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were just a few of the high profile names that had roles in the play.

The play gained traction and became the talk of the nation, eventually resulting in the federal court's overturn of the ballot proposition. Lance greeted the crowd, “Hey y’all!”

He started his speech on a light note:

“I’d like to quote Joe Biden and say that it’s a big fucking deal,” Black said, in reference to Joe Biden’s under-the-breath comment to Obama in 2010. He was met with applause and explosive laughter.

Easing into speaking of his support of Hillary Clinton, he began to tell a story of a conversation he had with his once conservative mother:

“I said ‘Mom, have you heard about these Clintons?’ And my mom turned bright red. She was angry.”

His mother came from the Mormon culture where she was taught that she would be a servant in this life and the next. She couldn’t stand Hillary Clinton.

Black’s mother was a southern woman, paralyzed from Polio at a very young age. Black spoke of how she had always been told of what she couldn’t do in her life:

“Couldn’t have a good job, wouldn’t find love, and could never have kids.”

Black loved his mother dearly, and respected her deeply. So he told her:

“Mom, you know when our good Mormon home became abusive, I don’t remember you saying that it was okay. I remember you packing up and piling the kids, and you getting the hell out of the Mormon church to protect your children. Didn’t you? And you followed love. You married my stepdad who didn’t believe that you had to serve him.”

Black remembered his elementary school days, when his mother held her own after he was called into the principal’s office for cheating on his math test, and threatened with being paddled as punishment.

“‘You touch my son and I will make your life a living hell,’ my mom said. My little paralyzed Mormon military mom. He did not touch me,”  Black said.

He described the transition from his mother’s staunch opposition of Clinton, to her unwavering support. He remembered looking at his mother one day, red faced, and saying, “‘Mom, I’m going to remind you because you’re cunning and ambitious, and I believe you would do what it takes to protect your family. You aren’t afraid of making waves, because you’re kickass. You’re exactly like Hillary Rodham Clinton.’"

His mother went on to become Hillary’s biggest fan.

“My mom was taught what women could and couldn’t do in this world, and through Hillary Clinton, she learned that all of that is wrong. She learned loud and clear that gender does not determine destiny,” Black said.

It was clear that Clinton had quite the effect on the bond between Black and his mother, and changed how she saw herself.
He ended with commending Clinton, claiming that “there is only one candidate out there who considers us as part of her family, and that is Hillary Rodham Clinton, who must be our next President of the United States."

Grace Babb contributed to this report.

Copyright 2016 – The Gayly – July 28, 2016 @ 9:30 p.m.