Dr. Eric Cervini
Black Tie Dinner unveiled the theme — “Mirrorball” — for its 42nd annual dinner, scheduled Oct. 28, at Sheraton Dallas, and other new details at the Dessert B4Dinner event held Thursday night, May 4, at The Rose Room inside S4.
Black Tie Dinner junior co-chair Dustin Vyers explained, “Mirrorball speaks to our unique qualities and strengths and how the best parts of us combine to reflect light and beauty into the world.
“With the recent attacks on the trans and drag communities, our community must shine so bright that we cannot be unseen,” he added.
Dinner officials also announced Thursday Emmy-nominated producer, author and historian Dr. Eric Cervini as the first award recipient for the 2023 dinner, being presented once again by PNC Bank.
Cervini is the creator and executive producer of The Book of Queer, a queer history docuseries that just received six Emmy nominations. His first book, The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America, was a NYT bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Cervini said, “Black Tie Dinner’s decades-long history of supporting the Human Rights Campaign Foundation plus countless LGBTQ initiatives in our shared home state of Texas reflects the same belief that drives my writing and educational work: It takes a village to achieve our rights, and that village deserves visibility and support.”
Senior Co-Chair Regina Lyn Pierce said that in honoring Cervini Black Tie is “leaning in to one of our core pillars — education. His Rainbow Book Bus tour is a positive light for queer literature in the wake of book bans across the country.”
The process for becoming a table captain for the 42nd annual Black Tie Dinner also opened up with Thursday night’s event. For more information visit BlackTie.org.
— Tammye Nash
Cervini’s “Book of Queer” was heavily criticized by gay men for peddling stereotypes (the show seems to think that gay men all blow kisses and talk in an affected manner), and historians have debunked a number of the claims made in the show.