Black Tie Dinner
Black Tie Dinner is a formal charity dinner held each year in Dallas, Texas to raise money for the North Texas lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. The first dinner was held in 1982. Since its inception, Black Tie Dinner has remained one of the largest LGBTQ fund-raising dinners in the nation, both in attendance and distribution. Today, the dinner is attended by over 2,500 guests per year, and has an annual distribution of over $1 million. Each year, Black Tie Dinner selects up to 20 LGBT focused organizations in the North Texas area to receive proceeds from the dinner, in addition to one standing National beneficiary, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. To date, Black Tie Dinner has raised over $25 million. Over the years, Black Tie Dinner has attracted an array of high-profile politicians, Hollywood celebrities, and other public figures, both as program entertainment and as attendees of the dinner. Examples include Billy Porter, Debra Messing, Connie Britton, Goldie Hawn, Megan Mullally, Geena Davis, Sharon Stone, Martin Sheen and Lily Tomlin. Black Tie Dinner is often mistaken for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) "gala" dinners which are held in many major cities around the nation. The Black