Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards were established in 2000 to further the spirit and lifework of Colin Higgins. All of his films celebrate honesty and integrity in the face of adversity: Harold and Maude find love despite the objections of family and society, the heroes of 9-5 find fulfillment and save the company by learning to appreciate their individual talents and differences, and the shunned madam of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas transforms the lives of many through her kindness. Like the characters in his films, Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award recipients have endured overwhelming hardships, yet have handled themselves with the utmost grace and dignity.
The Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards are bestowed each year to acknowledge remarkable young people who refuse to be silenced by societal norms and demonstrate profound courage in the face of hardship, intolerance and bigotry based on sexual orientation, gender identity and national origin.
Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards were established in 2000 to further the spirit and lifework of Colin Higgins. All of his films celebrate honesty and integrity in the face of adversity: Harold and Maude find love despite the objections of family and society, the heroes of 9-5 find fulfillment and save the company by learning to appreciate their individual talents and differences, and the shunned madam of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas transforms the lives of many through her kindness. Like the characters in his films, Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award recipients have endured overwhelming hardships, yet have handled themselves with the utmost grace and dignity.
The Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards are bestowed each year to acknowledge remarkable young people who refuse to be silenced by societal norms and demonstrate profound courage in the face of hardship, intolerance and bigotry based on sexual orientation, gender identity and national origin. Since the inception, the Colin Higgins Foundation has handed out $5.8 million in grants to a wide variety of institutions, groups and individuals. In the last decade, the foundation has focused primarily on LGBTQ+ youth.
The Youth Courage Awards has evolved to support LGBTQ+ youth filmmakers!
In 2022, Colin Higgins Foundation officially partnered with Outfest and launched the “Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant,” a new initiative centered on providing LGBTQIA+ youth filmmakers with financial support to continue their work.
In 2023, the Colin Higgins Foundation will partner with Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world. Colin Higgins Foundation will again award three filmmakers with $15,000 grants to support their professional development in the film industry.
Learn more about our 2022 and 2023 grant winners here.
