Outfest to Honor Tom Hanks, Lisa Cholodenko at Legacy Awards

Tom Hanks is about to receive a Big award from the LGBT community.

The actor, who won an Oscar over two decades ago for his role as an HIV-positive man in Philadelphia, will be honored in November at the Outfest Legacy Awards.

Outfest, one of the nation's most prominent nonprofits to support LGBT film, will present Hanks with its Trailblazer Award in recognition of this performance.

Ari Karpel, the co-president of its board and a cochair of the event, says that when Hanks took this role and spoke eloquently about gay issues in his Oscar acceptance speech, he "sent an essential message during a time of crisis." Karpel calls it a "landmark example of a risk well taken" in a statement issued to the press.

Outfest will also honor Lisa Cholodenko with its Visionary Award. Cholodenko is the director of The Kids Are All Right, a groundbreaking film released in 2010 that showcases the lives of same-sex parents and their children.

Christopher Racster, Outfest's interim executive director, lauds Cholodenko for "showing the world that LGBT parenting is just as joyful, complicated and challenging as straight parenting."

Hilary Swank, Lee Daniels, Bruce Cohen, Roland Emmerich, Craig Zadan, and Neil Meron are all past honorees at the Legacy Awards, which support the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, a collection of more than 35,000 moving image items of LGBT historical importance.

The ceremony will take place November 5 at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale September 17. For more information, go here.