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 He
may have needed his bodyguard to lift him from the black Bentley
(license plate: HUSTLR) into the gold-plated wheelchair, but to the
audience at the Foundation’s Awards Banquet in October, Larry Flynt
stood tall: he was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation as he
accepted the Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Performance
artist Ron Athey (L) with award winners Rob Halford (upper right) and
Larry Flynt
Board
Member Dan Berkowitz presented the award, reminding the capacity crowd
of Flynt’s longtime fight to protect First Amendment rights, and
pointing out that without the efforts of people such as Flynt, events
like the Erotic Art Weekend wouldn’t exist.
In
his acceptance speech, Flynt urged the crowd to “speak up, speak
out” on issues, and never to allow their rights to be violated. He
also encouraged artists to remember their duty to “piss people off”
by “pushing the envelope.”
Board
Member Cliff Benjamin presented the Erotic Artist Hall of Fame to Swiss
artist H. R. Giger. The Award was accepted by renowned performance
artist Ron Athey.
Adult
film star and rock’n’roller Joe Romero presented the Cultural Icon
Award – created to honor someone whose artistic achievements and
personal example cause him or her to become a role model – to Rob
Halford, former lead singer of the heavy metal group Judas Priest.
Accepting the award, Halford confessed that he owed his Judas Priest
butch leather look to Tom of Finland, explaining that, in an early
appearance with the band, he wore his sister’s dress. His advice to
the crowd at the dinner: “Keep it controversial!”
The Awards – clear
acrylic obelisks – were designed by artist Philip Hitchcock, who
merged two of Tom’s figures into a single image, which is inscribed
onto the Award. (By the
way, we’re not the only ones who think Philip is a winner – he was
chosen as one of OUT Magazine’s 100 outstanding gay people in 2001!)
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