PULLMAN, Wash. – Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will give a free, public talk about equal rights at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in the CUB auditorium as part of Washington State University’s commemoration of National Pride Week Oct. 7-11.
He won the 2009 Academy Award for best original screenplay for “Milk,” the biopic of late gay rights activist Harvey Milk, which starred actor Sean Penn.
Black is a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which is leading the federal case against California’s Prop. 8, which opposes same-sex marriage.
He has been named one of the 50 most powerful LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people in America today. He has published three books and contributes to The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post.
His other screenplays include “J. Edgar,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Clint Eastwood; “The Barefoot Bandit,” for FOX based on the true story of Colton Harris-Moore; and “Under the Banner of Heaven,” based on Jon Krakauer’s book about fundamentalist Mormonism for director Ron Howard. Black’s feature directorial debut, “Virginia,” starring Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris was released in May 2012.