Screenwriter Dustin Black To Be Honored For LGBTQ Rights Work

LOS ANGELES, CA — Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will receive the Writers Guild of America West's Valentine Davies Award, recognizing his work on behalf of civil and human rights benefiting the LGBTQ community, the guild announced Wednesday.

Black is best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for "Milk," the biopic of late gay-rights activist and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. That screenplay also earned Black the WGAW's Paul Selvin Award, which honors work that embodies the spirit of constitutional rights and civil liberties.

"Dustin Lance Black is the embodiment of the Valentine Davies Award," said WGAW President David A. Goodman. "A tireless advocate for the cause of LGBTQ+ rights, his accomplishments in that arena have been truly profound."

Black also penned the screenplay for "8," based on the federal trial challenging California's Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage. He is also a founding member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization that led the legal challenges to the measure.

Black was also a writer for the HBO series "Big Love." His other credits include the films "Pedro" and "J. Edgar" and the miniseries "When We Rise."

He will receive the award at the WGA Awards ceremony Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton.

City News Service; Photo: Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black receives his Best Original Screenplay award for 'Milk' during the 81st Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre on February 22, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)