President Obama received cheers at a
star-studded gay fundraiser in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
Six-hundred people turned out to
support Obama at a campaign fundraiser at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel
organized by the Obama for America LGBT Leadership Council.
Glee co-star Darren Criss
performed and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres emceed the party.
“I could not be prouder of the work
that we've done on behalf of the LGBT community,” Obama told the
crowd. “From the work we did to pass the Matthew Shepard law, to
repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' to all the administrative work
that's been done by agencies to make sure that folks are fully
recognized is something that I'm personally very proud of.” (Video
of Obama's remarks is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Attendees included CBS CEO Les Moonves
and his wife Julie Chen, Will & Grace creator Max
Mutchnick and his husband Erik Hyman, singer Lance Bass, Modern
Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his partner Justin
Mikita, Star Trek's George Takei, and incoming HRC president
Chad Griffin.
After the gala, the president attended
a more intimate fundraiser at the Beverly Hills home of Glee
creator Ryan Murphy, who is openly gay.
Among the 70 donors in attendance who
paid $25,000 each to dine with the president were singer Cher,
actress Julia Roberts and Glee co-stars Jane Lynch and Criss.