On Saturday, September 21, the Los Angeles LGBT Center celebrated its momentous 50th anniversary and five decades of the fight for LGBT equality with two star-studded celebrations on one magical evening. The festivities kicked off with the Gold Anniversary Vanguard Celebration, an elegant dinner among friends and supporters, followed by a star-studded Hearts of Gold concert and multimedia show with a “rainbow carpet” arrivals line starring Sia, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown & Bobby Berk, Melissa Etheridge, and many more at the iconic Greek Theatre saluting a half-century of struggles and historic victories of the Center and the entire LGBT community.
- PHOTOS (Credit: Getty Images for Los Angeles LGBT Center)
- VIDEO (Credit: Getty Video for Los Angeles LGBT Center):
- http://bit.ly/2NrNNW0
- *Contains on-stage presentations by Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, “rainbow carpet” b-roll and interviews with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Kathy Griffin, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, Frankie Grande, Zeke Smith, Nico Santos, Rufus Wainwright, Jenifer Lewis, Valentina, and more.
LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER CELEBRATED 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH STAR-STUDDED GOLD ANNIVERSARY VANGUARD CELEBRATION DINNER AND ‘HEARTS OF GOLD’ CONCERT
Concert Featured Sia, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda,
Kathy Griffin, Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown & Bobby Berk, Valentina & Surprise Performance by Melissa Etheridge at the Iconic Greek Theatre
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 22, 2019) – On Saturday, September 21, the Los Angeles LGBT Center celebrated its momentous 50th anniversary and five decades of the fight for LGBT equality with two star-studded celebrations on one magical evening. The festivities kicked off with the Gold Anniversary Vanguard Celebration, an elegant dinner among friends and supporters, followed by a star-studded Hearts of Gold concert and multimedia show starring Sia, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown & Bobby Berk, Melissa Etheridge, and more at the iconic Greek Theatre saluting a half-century of struggles and historic victories of the Center and the entire LGBT community.
The A-list entertainment at Hearts of Gold included performers Sia (Pop Icon), Rufus Wainwright (Singer-Songwriter/Composer), Ty Herndon (Country Artist), Jenifer Lewis (Actress, Black-ish), Valentina (RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, FOX’s Rent: Live), Thelma Houston (Singer/Actor) and surprise performer Melissa Etheridge. Evening’s presenters included Lily Tomlin (Actor/Activist, Grace and Frankie), Jane Fonda (Actor/Activist, Grace and Frankie), Kathy Griffin (Comedian/Activist), Frankie Grande (Dancer/YouTube Personality), Karamo Brown (Queer Eye), Bobby Berk (Queer Eye), Hayley Kiyoko (Recording Artist), Nico Santos (Actor/Comedian, Crazy Rich Asians, Superstore), Zeke Smith (Survivor), Tig Notaro (Comedian), Bruce Vilanch (Comedian/Writer), the cast of Good Trouble including Maia Mitchell, Cierra Ramirez, Emma Hunton, Josh Pence, and Zuri Adele, and pre-produced segment with Margaret Cho (Comedian).
Additional guests in attendance included August Getty (Fashion Designer), Brigitte Nielsen (Actress/Model/Singer), Kevin Alejandro (Actor, Lucifer), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Actress, Lucifer), Jake Borelli (Actor, Grey’s Anatomy), Manny MUA (Make-up Artist/YouTube Personality), Alexandra Grey (Actress, Transparent), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Actress, For the People), Ariadne Getty (Philanthropist), and more.
Prior to the concert, more than 1,000 of the region’s most important leaders and influencers in the civic, corporate, entertainment, and philanthropic communities attended the Gold Anniversary Vanguard Celebration sit-down dinner to celebrate the achievements of the Center – the world’s largest LGBT organization – over the past 50 years.
Highlights from the evening included the following:
- During the Gold Anniversary Vanguard Celebration, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean on-stage and remarked how proud he was to represent the Center in Washington DC.
- Pop icon Sia opened the Hearts of Gold concert performing her classic hits “Titanium” and “The Greatest” joined by dancer Maddie Ziegler on-stage.
- After posing for photos together on the “Rainbow Carpet”, Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin gushed about the services that the Los Angeles LGBT Center provides for the community, spanning categories of Health Services, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, Leadership and Advocacy.
- Frankie Grande spoke out passionately about the recent struggles the community has faced, stating they have been “stripped of their rights” by the current administration.
- Couple Nico Santos and Zeke Smith took the stage together to speak about representation, specifically in the media, and how vital it is to the community. Earlier in the evening while on the “Rainbow Carpet,” Smith shared, “the torch we carry is representation… we’re there to spread the message and to spread hope to the young people.” Santos added, “I moved to LA about ten years ago and I was so broke when I moved to LA that the only place I could get healthcare was the Center.”
- Melissa Etheridge came out for a surprise performance, singing and strumming her iconic hits “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One”.
- Rufus Wainwright captivated the audience with crowd-pleasing hits, including “Over The Rainbow.”
- Drag icon and RuPaul’s Drag Race Veteran Valentina sashayed on stage to wow the crowd with a 70s lip-sync and dance performance.
- Singing straight from the soul, Ty Herndon performed “What Mattered Most”.
- Thelma Houston got the crowd on their feet with her iconic 80s hit, “Don’t Leave Me This Way”.
- The one and only Jenifer Lewis closed out the show, performing “You’re All I Need to Get By” and “Ain’t No Mountain” featuring a surprise dance appearance by Kathy Griffin.
