Matt Bomer and partner to receive gay ‘Inspiration Award’
Gay actor Matt Bomer and his partner, publicist Simon Halls, are to receive the Inspiration Award from the American Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
The award is for the couple’s “meaningful contributions toward creating a world where every child learns to respect and accept all people”.
The pair will receive the gong at the GLSEN Respect Awards in Los Angeles this October.
Ellis had announced the day before that he was no longer being considered an option to adapt the book for the screen.
He said it was “too big a game” for an openly gay actor like Bomer to play the lead in the project.
Ellis, who does not identify as gay, bisexual or straight, told followers: “I am NOT discriminating Matt Bomer because of his sexuality. Fifty Shades of Grey demands an actor that is genuinely into women. Get it?!?”
The American Psycho writer addressed Bomer directly at one point, saying: “Matt Bomer: I don’t care how good an actor you are but being married to another man complicates things for playing [Christian Grey].”
Bomer has three sons with his partner, whom he publicly spoke about for the first time in February.
Of the Inspiration Award, Simon Halls, told the Hollywood Reporter: “Both Matt and I are incredibly impressed by the great work that GLSEN does for kids who might normally not have somewhere to turn.
“Even in this day and age, LGBT kids still need all the support that we can give them. We are both very humbled to be receiving this honor.”
DreamWorks Animation co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg along with his wife, Marilyn, will receive GLSEN’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony, where efforts to increase inclusion and safety in schools are rewarded.
