Los Angeles LGBT Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Concert & Multimedia Extravaganza

(Photo: Jennifer Lewis)

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 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 others 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. Guests enjoyed cocktails, dinner, live auction, performance by recording artist LP, and remarks by Kathy Griffin, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean.

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