“Our Stories,” the theme for this year’s Atlanta Human Rights Campaign Gala Dinner, proved fitting May 14 as hundreds packed the ballroom at the Marriott Marquis for the annual black-tie fundraiser for the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group.
From national award winners to local honorees and HRC members, personal stories wove a compelling narrative of the power of coming out and the need for full equality for LGBT Americans.
Filmmaker Lee Daniels, who is gay and an adoptive father, summed up the evening succinctly when he told the cheering audience, “I am not asking for special rights, I am not asking for civil rights, I just want my fucking rights — my human rights.”
Daniels directed “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” and attended the Atlanta dinner to present HRC’s national Ally for Equality award to talk show host and actress Mo’Nique, who won an Academy Award for her role in the film.
“Our Stories,” the theme for this year’s Atlanta Human Rights Campaign Gala Dinner, proved fitting May 14 as hundreds packed the ballroom at the Marriott Marquis for the annual black-tie fundraiser for the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group.
From national award winners to local honorees and HRC members, personal stories wove a compelling narrative of the power of coming out and the need for full equality for LGBT Americans.
After surviving a stifling childhood where he was teased for being gay and trapped in the closet, Lee Daniels had no desire to bring his fear and insecurity with him to Hollywood.
“My nightmare was being closeted until I was 18,” says Daniels, the Oscar-nominated director of “Precious,” who will be attending the Atlanta HRC Dinner May 14, themed “Our Stories.”
“I was bullied, and I know that feeling of really wanting to kill yourself and feeling alone,” he says. “I don't think that we're doing enough to deal with the kids that are being bullied. I know that we think that we are, but I just don't think we're doing enough.”
Daniels is passionate about creating a less hostile landscape for LGBT youth, even as he credits his rough upbringing with his success as a filmmaker.
The Atlanta chapter of the Human Rights Campaign announced today that director and producer Lee Daniels has joined the speaking line-up for this year's Atlanta Gala Dinner on May 14.
Daniels, who directed Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, will join Academy Award-winning actress Mo'Nique, who will receive the organization's Ally for Equality Award at the dinner. Mo'Nique won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Precious.
According to HRC:
Daniels' background is filled with bold stories as real and gritty as the narratives from the films he creates. By the age of 21, Daniels had founded and was running his own health care agency, providing nurses to private homes and hospitals; he was simultaneously trying to be a screenwriter. After selling his health care business and giving up screenwriting, Daniels began managing actors such as Loretta Divine, Michael Shannon, Natasha Kinsky, and Aishwarya Rai. He turned to producing as a natural result of trying to find and create great material for his clients; the organic leap to directing came soon after. Daniels received the HRC National Visibility Award this past October at the HRC National Dinner in Washington, DC.