Armistead Maupin, Hilary Swank honored by Outfest

Novelist Armistead Maupin, Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and Levi Strauss & Co. are this year’s recipients of the Outfest Legacy Awards.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Outfest, the Los Angeles nonprofit organization that promotes equality by “creating, sharing and protecting” LGBT stories on the screen.

The awards will take place Nov. 12 at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles.

Maupin, whose latest book “The Days of Anna Madrigal” is the final installment in his saga of LGBT life “Tales of the City,” will receive the Visionary Award. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the award-winning TV adaptation of “Tales of the City.”

Swank is earning the Trailblazer Award in recognition of her first Oscar-winning performance, in the 1999 drama “Boys Don’t Cry,” and Levi Strauss is the recipient of the Guardian Award for its long history of supporting equality, civil rights and social justice.

“Armistead Maupin’s diverse, interconnected community of San Francisco bohemians -- which shaped our collective fantasy of what LGBT life is and could be -- may stand in stark contrast to Hilary Swank’s all-too-real portrayal of a trans man who is murdered in ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ but the two have one important thing in common: They are stories that inspire change,” said Outfest Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer in a statement.

“For decades now, that change has been underway at Levi Strauss & Co., which has consistently taken a stand for equality, by, for instance, granting employees domestic partner benefits long before other major corporations did. This is our legacy. “

For more information go to https://www.outfest.org.