Oct 19, 2009 Filed Under: News & Rumours Comments (0)

Equality California honored Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez and Emmy award-winning actress Debra Messing Saturday for their work promoting gay civil rights at the nonprofit organization’s annual awards ceremony in Palm Springs.

Saturday night’s event drew more than 400 people.

The Palm Springs Equality Awards is one of five statewide events to recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender issues, while raising money for the San Francisco-based nonprofit group.

“This raises the funds that allows us to do the work,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and a part-time Palm Springs resident.

Last year’s statewide events raised more than $2 million, organizers said.

Gay civil rights is an important issue in the Palm Springs area, which boasts one of the largest gay populations, per capita, in the United States.

Pérez, D-Coachella, was recognized for championing measures important to the gay community, such as supporting the repeal of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between a man and woman, and establishing a day honoring the nation’s first elected openly gay person, Harvey Milk.

“It’s a civil rights issue,” Pérez said. “I decided very early on that I was going to stand up for what I believe in when it comes to civil rights, and that includes the LGBT community.”

Best known for her role as Grace Adler on the hit NBC show, “Will & Grace,” Messing was honored for helping “bring the stories of LGBT people to television and stage.”

Messing has a history of supporting gay issues, having come out in 2000 against Proposition 22, a state law that banned gays and lesbians from marrying.

“For me, it’s a no-brainer,” Messing said. “Equal rights means equal rights for everybody.”

Equality California also honored the California Teachers Association, considered a crucial ally as one of the biggest contributors to the No on 8 campaign.

CTA President David Sanchez, the first openly gay president of the association elected statewide, accepted the award.

“In CTA, we strongly believe that our diversity is what makes us whole as a society,” Sanchez said.

“It is to be celebrated in our classrooms. Our commitment to human and civil rights over our 146-year history is why I can stand here tonight as the first openly gay CTA president to accept this award on behalf of our members,” he said.

The evening also included a fashion show featuring designs from the cast of “Project Runway” and a silent auction where the highest bidder could win a framed marriage bill submitted in 2007 and signed by its author, state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco; or cocktails with actor David Hyde Pierce.

Founded in 1998, the San Francisco-based nonprofit group works for equality and legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.