HRC Blog

Human Rights Campaign hosts star-studded Los Angeles Gala Dinner and Hero Awards

March 16, 2009

The Human Rights Campaign held its annual Los Angeles Gala Dinner and Hero Awards on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. According to several accounts, the LA dinner was a fun and motivational evening for our members and supporters on the West Coast. LA dinner co-chairs Kelsey Bray and Parker Williams will undoubtedly agree with blogger Greg Hernandez of Greg in Hollywood that "there was no denying that this was one special Human Rights Campaign gala." Wanda Sykes, the host for the evening, earned rave reviews for her hilarious opening monologue and people are still talking about NAACP National Chairman Julian Bond's rousing speech. Bond immediately got off to great start with his first words that "gay rights are civil rights." Watch the video of Julian Bond's full speech at the Los Angeles Dinner. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese gave an overview of HRC's legislative agenda. Watch the video here. Back Story also learned that "And She's the California Constitution" won the first E Hero Award for best online activist video. In a nod to the Oscars, each of the five finalist videos were recognized and shown during the dinner program before the winner was announced at the end. Congratulations to Jonah Markowitz, Ray Lancon, Chris Panizzon, Dayna Frank, Angel Lopez, Andrew Oldershaw, Courtney Sexton and Todd Shotz for garnering the most online votes for their video. For a play-by-play review of the evening, check out HRC LA Dinner's liveblog and the Twitter feed.