The ACLU of Southern California’s annual Bill of Rights Awards on Sunday night honored Mark Ruffalo, “Will & Harper” stars Harper Steele and Will Ferrell, “The Sympathizer” writer Viet Thanh Nguyen and sports legend Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle Griner.
Happening just days after the election, the evening took on a somber tone with presenters and honorees emphasizing how crucial the ACLU was and can be in legal battles protecting civil rights and fighting for social justice during a Trump administration. In an eerie coincidence, an SUV adorned with Trump flags and passengers shouting “we won” drove by the Beverly Hilton hotel on Wilshire Boulevard as guests arrived for the gala.
Griner, who spent 10 months in a Russian work camp before her release was secured by a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration in 2022, praised the civil rights organization. “My wife and I even have lots of common with the ACLU,” Brittney said after being introduced by Kerry Washington. “We commit to persons are on the margins with curiosity. We do it with love. We share values with ACLU. Above all, patriotism in its truest form, the idea in an America that we yet to see, but proceed to dare to construct and fight for.”
Nguyen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of “The Sympathizer,” talked to Variety on the red carpet concerning the impact of a second Trump presidency could have on artists. “I’m sure there’s a chilling effect, and it’s going be hard to say what that chilling effect is, because when people don’t speak, how can we know what is definitely occurring?” said Nguyen, whose award was presented by Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan. “But I believe there was a very good incitement for writers and other artists to talk out occurring for quite some time, with the present stresses, obviously, since Oct. 7. Shortly before the election, we did have greater than 7,000 writers sign on to a petition to boycott Israel, for instance. I believe there’s a movement of solidarity globally amongst writers and artists, so I believe there can be many who will feel compelled to talk out.”
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Steele, whose friendship with Ferrell and her gender transition was chronicled within the Netflix road trip documentary “Will & Harper,” said the election has shaken her confidence as a trans woman. “That scary alienating feeling that I worked so hard to beat was creeping back in,” she said. “But that is so not about me. This scary feeling is back for therefore many across this country without the advantage of our privilege they usually have real reason to be afraid. Their health are is under attack, their families, their doctors, their support systems, their schools, their very identity is under attack and the attackers have just been emboldened.”
Ruffalo, who received his award from his MCU and “Infinitely Polar Bear” co-star Zoe Saldaña, urged financial donations to the ACLU: “Now’s the time to redouble our efforts and our commitment to this ugly fight that looms on our horizon.”
See more photos from the ACLU SoCal Bill of Rights Awards below.
