LGBT supporters gathered last weekend to celebrate the Point Foundation's 10th anniversary at Jim Henson Studios in West Hollywood and raised nearly $300,000 for the group.
The Point Foundation, founded by Bruce Lindstrom and Carl Strickland in 2001, offers financial support and guidance to LGBT undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students who have been marginalized because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Over the past 10 years, Point has given over $12 million in college scholarships.
Celebrities such as John Michael Higgins, Anna Paquin, Busy Philipps, Sara Rue, and Joel McHale turned up to commemorate the occasion. Check out the following pages for some fun interviews with a few of the celebrity presenters.
When asked how Point will remain on a steady upward course, cofounder Carl Strickland responded, "By hiring the right people, always looking for talent greater than ourselves, and always being open to new ideas and ways of doing things. There's so many communities we've not yet been able to dig deep enough into."Gay dancer and choreographer Travis Wall, who earned the Point Horizon Award by showing unwavering support for LGBT people, told us of his plans for a new reality series, King of Dance, on Oxygen, demonstrating the process of choreography. Read The Advocate's interview with Wall earlier this year.Following Wall on the red carpet was Sara Rue. "I'm a big fan of doing anything to support the LGBT community," said Rue, who plays a lesbian on CBS's Rules of Engagement. "I didn't get an opportunity to get to go to college, and I feel it's good to come out and show your support.""The statistic that LGBT youth is three times as likely to drop out of high school than non-LGBT youth is staggering to me," said Rex Lee, a gay actor who appears on HBO's Entourage. "And the fact that as a result of that, they're twice as likely to say, 'I'm not going to go to college,' that saddens me a great deal. I think that what the Point Foundation does is incredibly important.""Everyone has a different path, and you just need to go the path that you feel is right," said The Voice's Tyler Robinson. "[The best advice] is to try and be as honest with yourself as you can. There's no way to accept anyone unless you accept yourself."Read our interview with Adam Pally, the breakout star of ABC's returning series Happy Endings, who was also on the red carpet. "I really believe in the Point Foundation, because it's got to be hard to be out at a young age and still striving to achieve the same things as everyone else," he said. "There's persecution all over the place, so any time that I can get involved with something that helps on that level is great."Busy Philipps of ABC's Cougar Town was also on the red carpet.
