There was much to celebrate Saturday night as the Los Angeles LGBT Center hosted the 45th Anniversary Vanguard Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, including the fact that LGBT individuals are now legally able to marry in 33 states.
Since 1969, the LGBT Center has been a pioneer in assisting the community and one of those who was on board from the very beginning was Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who received the organization’s Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award.
The organization also honored longtime LGBT activists George & Brad Takei who accepted the International Vanguard Award, presented by Tab Hunter. The evening’s other honoree was Marvel Entertainment, which received the Corporate Vanguard Award, accepted by Marvel’s Vice President of Animation Development and Partnerships Courtney Lane, presented by Holland Taylor.
In a nod to the evening’s honorees, the red carpet was flanked at one end by Ironman and the other by a Madame Tussaud’s wax figure of Patrick Stewart as Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
The gala evening got off to a festive start with a sprawling silent auction that featured everything from restaurant meals, apparel and accessories, destinations, jewelry and sports and entertainment memorabilia. VIP guests browsed through the displays and placed their bids via iPad or mobile while enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before the formal sit-down dinner in the hotel’s ballroom.
On the menu: Wilcox apple salad with candied walnuts, ricotta cheese and a white balsamic vinaigrette, roasted chicken breast with rainbow cauliflower and parsnip potato purée and for dessert, a chocolate manjari obsession with a mini lemon tart.
Supporters and guests included Florence Henderson, Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd (Vanderpump Rules), Elizabeth Henstridge (Agents of SHIELD), Alex Newell (GLEE), Lawrence Pressman (Transparent), Jay Duplass (Transparent), Wilson Cruz (Red Band Society), Shane Bitney Crone (EP and star of Bridegroom), Barrett Foa (NCIS Los Angeles), comedian Bruce Vilanch, DJ Eli Lieb, Wendy Burch (KTLA News Anchor), and Rosa Blasi (The Thundermans).
Gala cochair and Board of Directors member Dr. Marki Knox traced Yaroslavsky’s long record of support of the LGBT community going back to the mid-1970s and steadfastly continuing throughout the years by participating in gay pride parades when no other politicians did, passing laws banning discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS and offering full health coverage to partners of Los Angeles County employees. In 2008, he officiated at one of the first gay marriages in Los Angeles – and he’s also supported the center with a $250,000 contribution, she said.
Yaroslavsky, whose seat on the Board of Supes was won last week by community member Sheila Kuehl, took the stage to rousing applause from the packed ballroom.
“I had a desire to help a community that was marginalized to say the least,” he said, reflecting back on his alliance with the LGBT community and the organization then known as the Gay and Lesbian Center. “The center provided gay and lesbian housing, medical care and counseling that wasn’t readily available anywhere else. Those of you who have the freedom to marry and the ability to lead the biggest corporations and to have a president endorse gay marriage – all of it didn’t happen by chance. You didn’t parachuted in here without the sacrifice of people like Rand Schrader and others who are no longer with us.”
Yet he closed his speech with a cautionary note alluding to the recent election, saying “Gains could be taken away if not for vigilance.”
Since its grassroots beginnings in 1969, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center has more than 450 employees and 3,000 volunteers who provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services and global advocacy in the areas of health, social services, housing, culture, education and leadership. More information is available at www.lalgbtcenter.org.
–Hillary Atkin
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