Showing results by author "Dustin Lance Black" in All Categories

From the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Milk and political activist, a heartfelt, deeply personal memoir about growing up as a gay Mormon in Texas that is also a moving tribute to the mother who taught him about surviving against all odds. Mama's Boy is a stirring celebration of the connections between mother and son, red states and blue, and the spirit of optimism and perseverance that can create positive change in the world.

This play is a powerful account of the case filed by the American Federation for Equal Rights (AFER) in the U.S. District Court in 2010 to overturn Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Framed around the trial's historic closing arguments in June 2010, 8 provides an intimate look at what unfolded when the issue of same-sex marriage was on trial.

Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and activist, explores attitudes towards surrogacy. He shares his own journey to have a child, with husband Tom Daley, through surrogacy. Dustin beautifully and thoroughly explores how the question of surrogacy links to wider societal questions: how much control do women legally have over their body? Do we have a right to know our genetic history? How can LGBTQ+ couples shield their children from homophobia?

Dustin Lance Black wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Milk and helped overturn California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, but he grew up in a conservative Mormon household outside San Antonio, Texas. His mother, Anne, was raised in rural Louisiana and contracted polio when she was two years old. She endured brutal surgeries as well as braces and crutches for life and was told that she would never have children or a family.