The double Oscar winner filed the petition on April 23 in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, Calif., according to court papers.

The couple married in April 1996. Penn has requested joint legal and physical custody of their 18-year-old daughter, Dylan Francis, and 15-year-old son, Hopper Jack.

This isn’t the first indication of marital strife. The Penns filed for divorce in December 2007 but dismissed their petition several months later.

They attended the Academy Awards together in February. Penn, 48, won an Oscar for his role in the drama “Milk,” and neglected to thank his wife in his acceptance speech.

Calls to the couple’s representative, Mara Buxbaum, and Penn’s lawyer, Mindy Lauren Ross, were not immediately returned.

A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 21, according to the Marin County Superior Court Web site.

Penn met Wright on the set of the 1990 Irish mob movie “State of Grace.” The famously brooding actor, who previously married and divorced first wife Madonna, seemed to find the yin to his yang in the luminous actress, whose serene demeanor tempered his macho swagger. Wright, who was married once before to former soap star Dane Witherspoon, has said Penn helped her gain confidence and stand up for herself.

Penn launched his acclaimed acting career as the stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” His other, much heavier, roles include “Dead Man Walking,” “21 Grams,” “I Am Sam,” “All the King’s Men” and “Mystic River,” for which he won a best actor Oscar in 2004.

Penn’s second trophy came after he showed surprising warmth and humor as slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. Despite his reputation as a serious actor, he recently agreed to play Larry in the Farrelly brothers’ big-screen update of “The Three Stooges.”

He has also directed several films, including 2007’s “Into the Wild” and 1995’s “The Crossing Guard,” which co-starred Wright and Jack Nicholson.

Wright, 43, is best known for her role in “The Princess Bride” in 1987 and “Forrest Gump” in 1994 opposite Tom Hanks. Her other credits include “Beowulf,” “Breaking and Entering” and the new Russell Crowe drama “State of Play.”

Appearing at a news conference with the bill’s author, state Sen. Mark Leno, and several of Milk’s contemporaries who were featured in the movie “Milk,” Penn said he did not want to insult the intelligence of a fellow actor by expecting Schwarzenegger to veto the measure again.

“I would never assume such ignorance as for him to not have revised his (position),” Penn said, staring into a bank of TV cameras at a cafe that shares the name of Milk’s favorite opera, “Tosca.” “I have too much respect for him to be able to do that.”

Leno’s bill would require Schwarzenegger, who starred in the “Terminator” movies and other blockbusters, to establish May 22 of each year as a “day of significance.” Unlike an official holiday, Harvey Milk Day would not give state workers the day off, but schools would be encouraged to conduct lessons on the late San Francisco supervisor’s life and legacy.

Milk was an outspoken gay rights advocate at a time when coming out carried substantial personal and professional risks. He was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by another city supervisor in 1978.

After last year’s measure passed both houses of the Legislature, conservative groups lobbied Schwarzenegger to veto it, saying they objected to having gay issues taught in schools.

In his September veto message, the governor said that while he respected the bill’s intent, he thought Milk’s “contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions.”

Spokeswoman Rachel Cameron said Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the revived legislation and would not until it reaches his desk. Leno estimated that would happen by the end of August.

Penn said that based on the biographical research he did to portray Milk, he thought the late leader’s story of self-acceptance and sacrifice carried valuable lessons.

“I trust that Gov. Schwarzenegger is an increasingly reasonable man and that he understands that passing on prejudices … that surround this issue and so many others is poisonous to future generations,” Penn said.

State Senator Mark Leno (D) plans to reintroduce a bill today with Penn by his side designating Milk’s birthday a “day of significance.”

Last October Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed the same bill.

It would have set aside May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, designating it as a ‘day of special significance” in California.

It passed the legislature with little difficulty, but the governor said that while he respected the measure’s intent, he thinks Milk’s “contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level.”

Leno says Penn’s Academy Award shows that Schwarzenegger’s argument about Milk being only of provincial interest no longer holds up.

May 22 is Milk’s birth date. He would have been 79 this year.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 and shot to death a year later, along with Mayor George Moscone, by fellow supervisor Dan White.

White was convicted of manslaughter, and served a little more than three years in prison before committing suicide.

In the years since his death, Milk has become the most recognizable martyr of the gay rights movement.

Leno said the legislation was written to have no additional impact on the budget, and state workers and school employees would not get the day off from work.

Nevertheless, Republicans and other social conservatives mounted an intensive campaign against it.

Last May a bronze bust of Milk was unveiled at San Francisco City Hall. The bronze sculpture sits atop a stone base inscribed with a quote from one of his most famous speeches.

There already is a sculpture of Moscone outside San Francisco’s City Hall.

It is heartening to see them bring up the best interests of children. Ultra-conservatives have long owned this argument, as the Prop 8 battle has shown. In the February 2009 issue of Politics magazine, Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint describe how they rallied support for Prop 8 by stressing that the right of same-sex couples to marry “would be inculcated in young children through the public schools.” They also say “the break of the election” for them was the field trip taken by a first grade class in San Francisco to the wedding of their lesbian teacher.

Black and Penn, however, are on the right track. Not only is there no conflict between LGBT rights and what is best for children, but LGBT equality may in fact help foster children’s well being. Almost every major LGBT rights issue can be shown to have some positive impact on children:

·         Marriage equality provides legal protections and a sense of self-worth and equality for the children of LGBT people

·         Adoption rights provide homes for children who need loving families. Second-parent adoptions provide the protection of two legal parents.

·         Employment non-discrimination means LGBT parents are better able to provide for their families, and LGBT youth can look forward to a greater range of career opportunities.

·         Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell means the same for LGBT parents in the military and LGBT youth considering military service.

·         LGBT-inclusive hate crimes laws mean LGBT youth and the children of LGBT parents, as well as their parents, can live life without fear.

·         All of these laws help create an environment in which LGBT people are an accepted part of society, and LGBT children are supported in their identity and expression, reducing the high rates of suicide among LGBT youth.

·        All children will learn the importance of honesty, equal rights, and self-acceptance.

This is a message that more need to hear. Even across the country, in the first state to legalize marriage equality, we are still fighting to convey it.

This became frighteningly clear to me two weeks ago when I signed my son up for first grade in our public school system. The very same week, as chance would have it, Massachusetts House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R) introduced a bill to extend the existing law governing parental notification when schools cover issues of human sexuality in the curriculum. The bill adds “sexual orientation issues” to subjects requiring notification, extends the law to cover “any school sanctioned program or activity,” not just the curriculum, and requires parents to opt their children in, rather than just have the opportunity to opt them out.

The changes have two big ramifications. First, they would require students to get parental permission before participating in gay-straight alliance (GSA) clubs and events, effectively scaring off any students who are not yet out to their parents, and cutting them off from one of the main sources of support available to them.

Second, they could prevent children with LGBT parents or relatives from talking about their families in class. Jones has told Massachusetts LGBT newspaper Bay Windows that the bill would not prevent children with LGBT parents from doing so, but the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute has said it would. The bill seems vague enough that it could be interpreted either way, and thus confuse teachers who are on the front lines trying to decide if little Johnny should be allowed to show vacation pictures of himself and his two moms for show and tell.

Is it likely to pass? That is unclear, although it seems doubtful. The simple fact that Jones proposed it, however, indicates there are some who still feel child-related matters are important enough, and motivating enough, to try and push for this legislation even in the most LGBT-friendly state in the nation.

Elsewhere, the situation is even grimmer. The same week that Jones filed his bill, students at Yulee High School in Florida joined with the ACLU to sue their school district for the right simply to have a GSA. Conservatives in Tennessee and Kentucky are trying to have their state follow in Arkansas’ footsteps and ban adoption by unmarried adults.

In West Virginia, the Family Policy Council recently began running a television ad that shows an opposite-sex couple and their children in the crosshairs of a rifle scope, with a voiceover stating that traditional families are under “unrelenting attack” by supporters of same-sex marriage. Such people, they say, “favor the desires of adults over the needs of children.”

With the California Supreme Court poised to hear arguments against Prop 8 on March 5, expect to hear more such rhetoric in the coming weeks.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. Just as the presence of LGBT people of faith belies the claim that LGBT rights are anti-religion, the presence of LGBT children and parents belies the claim that they are anti-family and anti-children.

When Harvey Milk was killed in 1978, there was precious little acknowledgment of LGBT parents or children. Shortly after his death, however, there were signs this was changing. In 1979, a group of gay fathers formed the group that evolved into the Family Equality Council. The first official meeting of the group that would become PFLAG took place in 1973, but it was not until 1981 that members decided to create a national organization.

A decade after Milk’s death, the first GSA was formed, followed a year later by COLAGE, for children of LGBT parents, and two years later by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

It is heartening, therefore, to look back to the time of Harvey Milk and see how far we’ve come. We still have farther to go, but now we have an increasingly powerful weapon: the knowledge of millions of children negatively impacted by anti-LGBT discrimination, who can only benefit as LGBT rights advance.

It’s our argument now.

Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian, a blog and resource directory for LGBT parents. Her column exploring the intersection of politics and parenting appears every other Thursday at 365gay.com.

The speeches by actor Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black – who won Oscars for their work in “Milk” – were shown in full during live broadcasts of the Oscars that were screened across Asia on Monday morning.

But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on STAR, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned “gay” or “lesbian.”

“As a gay man, I am truly offended,” Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organizations. “Stop censoring the words that describe who I am.”

Pang said the move “sent a message … that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public’s ears.”

Users of Internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches.

Jannie Poon, STAR’s Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.”

Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that STAR’s preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated “record-breaking” audiences, especially in India and Taiwan.

Viewers first noticed that the words were silenced when Black offered a tribute to slain American gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk while accepting the Oscar for best original screenplay for “Milk.”

“If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight … that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you,” Black said.

Penn, who was named best actor for playing Milk, commented in his speech on California’s recent vote to ban gay marriage.

“For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support,” Penn said.

So, thank goodness for Oscar night. Star power may not change people’s minds, but it sure gets the word out.

Dustin Lance Black started the ball rolling with his words of support for gay kids across the country. He took a moment to speak directly to viewers whose parents probably rolled their eyes or spit at the television during his acceptance. His plea was eloquent and was a truly amazing thing to hear for an out adult, let alone a closeted kid.

And therein lies the power: people watch the Oscars.

Even if you live in a small town in Utah, it’s not impossible to love a shoot ‘em up flick or two and when all those famous people gather in one room, who can begrudge you a few hours of t.v. time?

So when many conservative families were outraged by Black and, later, outraged by Sean Penn, their children were watching and learning and getting a little exposure to a different point of view.

It may be easy to assume that, because celebrities support gay marriage, the country will follow. But ,Proposition 8 taught us that celebrity support is insufficient to foster consensus. That said, exposure to the humanity of gay people and our cause will bring us closer to equal rights.

And if there is anything celebrity knows, it’s exposure.

So, bravo Black and Penn and bravo Oscar!

“Something happened to me during the making of this movie. I noticed it tonight that the statues have rather healthy packages … As actors we don’t play gay, straight …we play human beings. (I’m) so appreciative of this acknowledgment. This is a story of equal rights for all human beings. Thanks Gus Van Sant, Lance Black, the counsel of Cleve Jones and the great Harvey Milk.”

The men of Milk got plenty of screen time at the awards (including when Josh Brolin goosed James Franco onstage while they and Emile Hirsch were introducing their film), but it wasn’t the only instance of gay visibility at the SAG party, which had “Diversity” stamped all over it. Which is nice.

Here’s my top ten list of gay moments from the event!

10. Sally Field winning for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Brothers & Sisters

9. Alec Baldwin tells the audience that he wants to make out with Tony Hopkins while accepting his statue for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

8. Out actor Guillermo Diaz rocking his mohawk at the Weeds table.

7. The repeated shots of the Milk table.

6. Heath Ledger’s win for The Dark Knight. Heath, we’ll never forget you.

5. Van Johnson’s moments in the montage of actors who passed away last year

4. Out actor Bryan Batt hugs his partner when his Mad Men cast wins Best Comedy Ensemble

3. The “Gays! Gays! Gays!” portion of the movie montage, which featured scenes from Brokeback, Six Feet Under, Ellen, Philadelphia, Milk, and more … and was immediately followed by shots of Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, The Elephant Man and Planet of the Apes. Whaaaaah?

2. Josh Brolin pinching James Franco’s ass while they were at the microphone introducing Milk. Seriously, can you blame him?

1. Sean Penn’s win for Milk, in which he commented on the enormous package that the statue was sporting and then said, “we don’t play gay or straight, we play human beings.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards, and Gus Van Sant’s Milk scored nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor (Sean Penn), and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin), Best Director (Gus Van Sant) and Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black). Also: Costume Design, Editing, and Score. That’s a total of 8.

The big shockers are that Kate Winslet and that Happy-Go-Lucky chick, who won Golden Globes for their roles, weren’t nominated (Winslet was nominated for The Reader but not for Revolutionary Road, and in a different category than for her Globe). And The Dark Knight and Wall-E were shut out of the major categories, proving once again that the Academy doesn’t like it’s cinema that cinematic.

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Frost/Nixon

Director
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, Dark Knight
Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Original screenplay
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonough, In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Andrew Stanton, WALL-E

Adapted screenplay
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Foreign-language film
Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
The Class, France
Departures, Japan
Revanche, Austria
Waltz With Bashir, Israel

Animated film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

And here’s the full list. ]]> http://www.365gay.com/uncategorized/milk-nabs-best-picture-actor-supporting-actor-director-screenplay-oscar-nominations/feed/ 5