Dustin Lance Black Smacks Prop 8

In accepting his two WGA awards, Dustin Lance Black definitely took the thing in a political direction (which I think is smart and right), according to TL Stanley at the Hollywood Reporter’s Gold Rush:

Black, who won one of the night’s top honors for his original screenplay for “Milk,” also picked up the Paul Selvin Award for work “that embodies the spirit of constitutional right and civil liberties.” He asked his fellow writers to join him in advocating for federal protection, not just for gays but for all groups that face discrimination. “We still have a long way to go for equal rights for everyone in this country.”

His speech, emotionally delivered and punctuated by a standing ovation from the assembled industryites, had a strong anti-Prop 8 message: No more of this state-by-state stuff. If there are ever to be equal rights for the gay community, he said, it will have to come from the federal level.