Making A Difference :: Vanguard Award Winner Ron Nyswaner

For Oscar-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, trying to get the stories of gay people told on the big screen hasn't always been the easiest goal to achieve.

"It's fairly easy to present a gay supporting character, but it's a little more difficult to present a gay main character and I have a whole backlog of unproduced scripts to back that up," Nyswaner says. "You go into a meeting and you can say the character is this or that, he's a detective, he's brilliant, but as soon as you say he's gay they stop you and say, 'Well, that's interest- ing, but why is he gay?' You have to rationalize and justify why you're making your main character gay, even though they never stop you and say, 'Well, that's interesting, but why is he straight?' "

Undeterred, Nyswaner forged on, selling gay-themed scripts that never got made... until one finally did. That film, 1993's ground-breaking "Philadelphia," not only earned Tom Hanks the first Oscar awarded for playing a gay character, but also served as a blueprint for later LGBT-themed films such as "Brokeback Mountain," "Boys Don't Cry," HBO's "The Normal Heart" and the recently released "Freeheld," which Nyswaner also happened to have written.

So it's no surprise that he is one of two recipients (alongside Jane Fonda) of this year's Vanguard Award, which is presented by the Los Angeles LGBT Center to those who have made significant contributions to the lives of the LGBT community.

"I'm actually kind of humbled by it," Nyswaner says of the honor, adding, "it's particularly meaningful because it's coming from gay is part of everything I'm doing. When I came out to Hollywood in 1982, it was a different time, and there were not a lot of people out of the closet. I came out here and was just who I was. I came out here with a partner and I went right to mainstream Hollywood and I was gay. I let everybody know in every meeting that I was gay. So receiving this award means a great deal to me."

One would assume that, with gay-themed movies like "Philadelphia," "Soldier's Girl" and "Freeheld" under his belt, Nyswaner might having an easier time telling the stories he wants to tell, but he is quick to set the record straight. "What I am desperate to do is create television where the main character is like other leads on TV: Dark and mysterious and flawed, and I'm having a struggle with that," he reveals. "I think it comes from well-intentioned people who are afraid of presenting flawed characters, but I think we're past the point of having to present idealized gay people in movies."

Noting that he butted heads over the presentation of the lesbian characters at the heart of "Freeheld," Nyswaner adds, "I think my colleagues tried too hard to soften the gayness. I think there's too much happiness in the movie. There are too many scenes where they're just getting along, and I kept saying,'Hey, they're just people, guys? Why are we hiding their flaws?'"

Now that "Freeheld" is out (and receiving some Oscar buzz for Julianne Moore's performance of a terminally ill police officer trying to leave her pension benefits to her surviving partner), Nyswaner has turned his attention to his latest gig as a writer on Showtime's "Homeland," but he hasn't put gay-themed films behind him. He's currently adapting the novel "My Policeman," a '50s-set drama about a man and a woman in love with the same charismatic, mysterious policeman and, in keeping with his agenda, says he's already told producer Greg Berlanti he intends to "go dark" with the characters.

"The first thing I said when I sat down with Greg was, 'These characters are going to be flawed, right? Yes? OK then. Let's go.'"

The 46th Anniversary Gala Vanguard Awards is taking place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, 2025 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 7. For tickets and more information, go to lgbtvanguardawards.org