Dustin Lance Black calls for people to rally against the rise of nationalism
The Academy Award winning scriptwriter fought to overturn California's anti-gay marriage bill
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Dustin Lance Black calls for people to rally against the rise of nationalism.
The Academy Award winning scriptwriter – who won the gong for his biopic Milk – and the husband of Tom Daley led the fight to overturn California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 back in 2010 and has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights.
And now, while speaking to The Canary, Black said the ‘pendulum of progress’ was going backwards for women, LGBTQ people and for race and religious minorities.
He said: “We are seeing a huge backslide. The question is how long will this last? How long does the swing back of the pendulum last?
“Progress is never a straight line. That is up to the whole of us to answer. How long do we want it to last and what are you prepared to do to push it forward?
“It is really up to the people in a moment of time to be paying attention to what is happening now and use history as your guide.
“We know that times like these are filled with division, that are filled with nationalism, pushing down minorities and difference and we know what that leads to and can lead to.
“Let’s not let that happen. That means people coming together to do all they can right now to push that pendulum of progress back in the right direction.
“The right direction is the direction where all people are treated equally in society and under the law, not just despite their difference but thanks to their great, wonderful, spectacular differences.
“Those differences that give every community in a nation a leg up and advantage.”