Dustin Lance Black (born June 10, 1974)[1] is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBT rights activist.

In 2001, he directed and was a subject in the documentary On the Bus about a Nevada road trip and adventure at Burning Man taken by six gay men.

[6] Raised as Mormon, he was hired as the only such writer on the HBO drama series Big Love about a polygamous family.

[7] The screenplay was written on spec,[14] but Black showed the script to Jones, who passed it on to his friend Gus Van Sant, who signed on to direct the feature.

[8][19] Black wrote the screenplay for J. Edgar, a biographical drama released November 11, 2011, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

[20] In 2011, Black wrote the play 8, which portrays the actual events in the Hollingsworth v. Perry trial and the testimony which led to the overturn of California's Proposition 8.

He created the play in response to the federal court's refusal to allow release of video recordings from the trial and to give the public a true account of what transpired in the courtroom.

[21] It is written and performed using original transcripts from the trial and journalist records, along with first-hand interviews of the people involved.

[22][23] The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, sponsors of 8, have released and licensed the play for readings nationwide on college campuses and in community theaters free of charge.

[citation needed] From 2007 to 2011, Gus Van Sant was set to direct a film adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, for a time working with Black.

[29][30] Black was the top entry on a list of openly gay influential people in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009 and was featured on the cover of the magazine.