Dustin Lance Black on Prop. 8 trial TV ban: “If Harvey Milk had been alive, he would have been furious”

I may be engrossed this week in the world known at the Television Critics Association press tour but I’ve been following what is happening up in San Francisco: Perry vs. Schwarzenegger.

San Francisco’s U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker will decide whether Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage violates U.S. constitutional rights of equal protection and due process. The trial is expected to become a landmark case that eventually will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I have a few friends, Frontiers IN La News Editor Karen Ocamb and Variety Managing Editor Ted Johnson, who have covered the first two days of the trial. You can read Karen’s coverage at her blog LGBT POV and Ted’s at Wilshire & Washington.

Karen has just posted about a quick conversation she had with Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for his screenplay for Milk,  right after the court let out today.

Lance said that listening to the testimony by the plaintiffs Monday was “one of the most moving days” for him personally and for the LGBT movement because of the story-telling. He said it was “unfortunate” that the cameras did not broadcast their stories so more could hear “because that’s what changes hearts and minds.”

“If Harvey Milk had been alive, he would have been furious” and would have tried to get the stories out as reflective not only of the LGBT story, but the American story, as well,” Black said.