LA LGBT Center to honor Jane Fonda, Ron Nyswaner at the Vanguard Awards

Celebrating a year of making a real difference in the lives of LGBT people, the Vanguard Awards will be honoring the iconic Jane Fonda and Academy Award-nominee Ron Nyswaner at the LGBT Center’s 46th Anniversary Gala.

The Vanguard Awards honors Fonda, Nyswaner

The ceremony and charity event– scheduled on November 7 at the the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California– will have Lily Tomlin presenting the award to Fonda as both used to be co-stars in the hit show Grace and Frankie. Meanwhile, Frances McDormand will present the award to Nyswaner.

“This honor means a lot to me. The work that the Center does for the LGBT community, its children, and extended families is profound and essential,” said Fonda, who will soon appear in director Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth.

On the other hand, Tomlin said, “Since long before I worked with Jane, I was in awe of her energy, activism, and generosity. Three decades later, I am still in awe of her and feel truly privileged to bestow this well-deserved honor. She has earned this over and over and over in her lifetime.”

Fonda became a friend and ally to the LGBT community at a time when celebrities advocating for LGBT rights was almost unthinkable. She campaigned with Harvey Milk against California’s anti-LGBT Briggs Initiative and had fought Anita Bryant, a notorious activist who demonized LGBT with a campaign to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance in Florida.

She has been a lifelong supporter of the LGBT community and champion for human rights.

On the other hand, Nyswaner is an openly gay writer, producer, documentary filmmaker, activist and pioneer in LGBT-related films. Nominated for an Academy Award as screenwriter of Philadelphia, the first major studio film to address homophobia and AIDS, he won a Peabody Award for his film Soldier’s Girl.

More recently he wrote Freeheld—- starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page— and is the co-creator of the Nyswaner/Salzman Film Archive, the fourth largest LGBT film archive in the US.

The Vanguard Awards as a charity event

The Vanguard Awawrds is one of the nation’s premier LGBT charity events, with the anniversary gala bringing together more than 1,200 LGBT people and their allies for cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. The evening will also feature an extensive silent auction that includes high-end items, packages, and experiences.

More importantly, the Vanguard Awards will celebrate inspirational honorees who exemplify courage, compassion, and a relentless tenacity for creating positive change in the world.