Gay night at the Oscars includes victorious "Milk"

Gus Van Sant's Milk may not have won Best Picture, but tonight’s 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony included plenty of gay-related moments, the most satisfying of which may have been Sean Penn’s win for Best Actor for his acclaimed portrayal of slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

Sean Penn

(Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

"You commie, homo-loving sons of guns!” Penn said in accepting the award.

Later, he referred to anti-gay protesters who had been picketing the streets of Sunset and Highland outside the theater, saying “For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame, and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone!''

Earlier in the evening, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black had given another moving speech when he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the same film.

“I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am,” Black said, “even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours.”

Dustin Lance Black

(Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

The videos for both Penn and Black’s acceptance speeches appear at the end of this article on the next page.

There were few, if any, surprises in the evening. As expected, Slumdog Millionaire dominated, winning eight Oscars.

Host Hugh Jackman presided over a stream-lined, slimmed-down ceremony, supposedly due to the tough economic times. The opening musical number, with sets that Jackman humorously claimed to have constructed in his garage after producers had nixed anything more expensive, was shaky – though Anne Hathaway was delightful in her “impromptu” musical impersonation of Richard Nixon.

In later explaining to Frank Langella, who portrays Richard Nixon in the film Frost/Nixon, why he had chosen Hathaway, not Langella, for the number, Jack admitted, “I didn’t want to kiss you.”

A later musical number, an homage to movie musicals where Jackman partnered with Beyonce Knowles and the actors from both Mamma Mia! and High School Musical, was far more successful, perhaps because the Mamma Mia! cast members did not include Pierce Brosnan.

Jackman finished the number by announcing, “The musical is back!”

Jackman and cast bringing back song and dance
(Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

This year, the Oscars were presented – very roughly – in the order in which a movie is made: from screenwriting to editing and scoring. The Best Original Songs – only three this year – were condensed into a single medley, a fact that contributed greatly to the ceremony’s reasonable running time.