Sean Penn wins Best Actor Academy Award for “Milk”
February 23, 2009
...And what a powerful acceptance speech! Watch Penn's Oscar acceptance speech where he spoke out against Prop 8 supporters here. (GLAADblog has posted the transcript of Penn's acceptance speech here.) Penn's unforgettable portrayal of America's first gay elected official Harvey Milk not only rightly earned him Hollywood's most coveted award last night - but his capturing of Milk's passion and dedication to advancing LGBT equal rights is timely inspiration for a new generation of LGBT activists. Congratulations to Sean Penn and to openly gay Dustin Lance Black for winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Milk. Watch Dustin Lance Black's Oscar acceptance speech here. Milk also earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Gus Van Sant), Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolan), Best Costume Design (Danny Glicker), Best Music (Score), and Best Film Editing. And be sure to read HRC Board Member Terry Bean's interview with Milk Director Gus Van Sant in the current edition of Equality Magazine.
