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George Takei: Recipient of The 2013 National Leadership Award

September 4, 2013

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has announced that famed actor, author and social justice activist George Takei will receive the 2013 National Leadership Award at the 17th Annual Miami Recognition Dinner, presented by Wells Fargo, on Saturday, November 9 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach…

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has announced that famed actor, author and social justice activist George Takei will receive the 2013 National Leadership Award at the 17th Annual Miami Recognition Dinner, presented by Wells Fargo, on Saturday, November 9 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized by this wonderful organization that has been fighting for LGBT equality for the past four decades,” said George Takei. “It is a privilege to be part of an event like the 17th Annual Miami Recognition Dinner that raises money for multiple organizations serving our community.”

This annual fundraising event honors individuals for their outstanding contributions to the social, cultural, political and humanitarian needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Local activist and civic leader Joseph L. Falk will receive the 2013 Eddy McIntyre Community Service Award.

George Takei has appeared in more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles. He is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek. Takei also portrayed the character in six Star Trek feature films and in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. An outspoken advocate for civil rights, Takei has used his unmistakable baritone in several satiric PSAs, including one in response to Tennessee’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill that encourages viewers to say, “It’s OK to be Takei.”

In April 2006, Takei embarked on a nationwide speaking tour called “Equality Trek” in which he talked about his life as a gay Japanese American. He married his life partner of more than 25 years, Brad Takei, in 2008 at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. In 2009, George and Brad made television history when they became the first gay couple to be invited to appear on The Newlywed Game, the long-running show now airing on GSN cable network. They won the game, earning a $10,000 donation for the Japanese American National Museum. In 2012, he starred alongside Martin Sheen and Jamie Lee Curtis in a performance of Dustin Lance Black’s play, ‘8,’ a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California’s Prop 8 ban on marriage for same-sex couples. The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. For more information on George Takei, please visit www.georgetakei.com.

His current projects include the musical Allegiance, drawn from his experience of growing up in Japanese American internment camps during World War II, and the recently published, Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet.

The Miami Recognition Dinner will treat guests to an intimate cocktail reception followed by a sit-down dinner, awards ceremony and dancing. Attendees will also have the opportunity to bid on a variety of silent auction items.

At last year’s dinner, more than 35 sponsors and approximately 800 guests contributed to another record-breaking year. In total, the dinner event grossed well over $500,000—making it the most successful Miami Recognition Dinner in Task Force history.

Over the years—through the Dinner and its sister event the Winter Party Festival—the Task Force has contributed approximately $1.65 million to South Florida grassroots LGBT organizations through the Miami Foundation GLBT Community Projects Fund.

Tickets to the 17th annual Miami Recognition Dinner are $250 for general admission and $350 for VIP admission (which includes a private VIP cocktail reception and meet & greet prior to the dinner). Tickets are available online at www.miamirecognitiondinner.org and by phone at 305.571.1924. Become a fan of the Miami Recognition Dinner on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/MiamiDinner and follow on Twitter and Instagram at @SparkleMRD.

To learn more about the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, visit www.theTaskForce.org and follow us on Twitter: @TheTaskForce.