By Karen Ocamb

Amos Brown accepted EQCA's 2005 Gavin Newsom Visionary Award on behalf of the California Chapter of the NAACP. Posing with Brown is EQCA honoree, 17-year-old Marina Gatto. Photot Credit: Pat Hendricks Munson

The rousing early acceptance speech by the NAACP's Dr. Amos Brown set the tone for the extraordinary Aug. 20 Equality California gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The roomful of 700 LGBT people and their allies jumped to their feet four times thrilled by Brown's pumped up message of unity and resistance to the forces of bigotry and discrimination.

After agreeing to testify on behalf of San Francisco-based Assemblymember Mark Leno's marriage equality bill, Amos, a minister at the Third Baptist Church, told the enraptured audience that he asked NAACP California chapter President Alice Huffman to join him. "I appealed to Alice to not become that which we hated. For we did not want racists to tell us to stay in our place and it was wrong to tell the lesbian and gay community to stay in their place, in the closet," he said.

EQCA honoree Marina Gatto (r), her two moms, Ramona and Arzu (l), and close family friend Ms Shabazz, daughter of Malcom X and Betty Shabazz. Photo Credit: Pat Hendricks Munson

For passing a resolution and testifying in support of marriage equality, the NAACP received the Gavin Newsom Visionary Award. Yolanda King, daughter of legendary civil rights hero Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was slated to present the award but had to be with her mother, Coretta Scott King, who suffered a stroke. (As IN goes to press, Mrs. King was reported in fair condition, though her speech was impaired.) Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden, the nation's first openly gay African American mayor, presented the award.

Also in attendance in a remarkable show of historic social justice solidarity were Christine Chavez and Julie Chavez-Rodriguez, granddaughters of United Farmer Workers leader Cesar Chavez, and Betty Shabazz, widow of civil rights leader Malcolm X.

Honored with the 2005 Equality Award was Marina Gatto, the 17-year-old daughter of lesbian parents, whose focused verve on fighting for LGBT families and marriage equality brought tears to many eyes. "I am a child who has grown up never having known equality," she said. "I wake up every day and wonder if this is the day my family will be torn apart." Her award was presented by her e-mail pen pal, actress Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia).

Brian Graden, president of Entertainment for MTV Networks' Music Group and president of Logo, received EQCA's 2005 Equality Leadership Award, presented by his friends, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Praised for his commitment to LGBT visibility in pop culture, Graden's moving and humorous acceptance speech was also hopeful as he noted that 70 percent of high school students in an MTV poll said gays deserve equal rights. "The world is changing and time is on our side," he said.

Also hopeful and rousing was the speech by West Hollywood City Councilmember John Duran, president of the board of Equality California. Referring to the antigay constitutional amendment on the June 2006 ballot, Duran said if the Christian fundamentalists "can win California, they can win everywhere. That is why we are at a critical juncture. This is where we draw the line in the sand." (Read Duran's full speech as an IN op-ed.)

Like a group hug at a family gathering, the audience contributed $100,000 -- mostly in $1,000 pledges -- in a 15-minute pledge drive spearheaded by Duran and longtime activist Diane Abbitt to match a promised $100,000 donation from the Haas Foundation. EQCA netted $350,000 in all. Abbitt also announced that Pacey Markman, who helped defeat the anti-gay Briggs Initiative in 1978, has been hired as a consultant to the Equality for All Campaign for the constitutional amendment battle.

The evening, hosted by Michelle Clunie of Showtime's Queer as Folk, and Extra! TV star Michael Corbett, also brought out scores of elected officials. In a quick interview, Leno told IN that he expects the momentum his marriage equality bill will have after it passes the state Senate to help win it passage in the Assembly.

Also in attendance were gubernatorial candidates State Treasurer Phil Angelides (who was just endorsed by state Sen. Sheila James Kuehl and Assembly Majority Whip Lloyd Levine) and State Controller Steve Westley, both of whom support marriage equality.

Asked if he had any advice on how the community should fight the anti-gay constitutional amendment, Angelides said, "The community has to make some choices about what they think is most effective. But, to the extent that we waiver, to the extent that we equivocate, it will be taken as weakness. If we believe something's right, we should say it's right and stand for it."

"This is an issue of basic fairness," Westly told IN. "We need to put it in human terms because so many people feel uncomfortable when you talk about gay marriage. So we need to position the debate properly. And if we do that in a smart way, say it's about human dignity, we will win this debate. But we need to be proactive, not reactive."