Lucas Grabeel in a Dress!

Lucas Grabeel rocks out quite the ugly dress on the set of his new movie, Milk, in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday.

Milk is a film about California’s first openly gay elected politician, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn). Grabeel, 23, will reportedly play Daniel Nicoletta, a clerk in Milk’s famed Castro Street camera store in San Francisco.

Here’s a little more backstory: Nicolette was Milk’s friend, employee and then eventually his City Hall Administrative Assistant. After Milk was assassinated, Nicoletta and other friends of the politician formed a group dedicated to preserving Milk’s legacy. Apart from keeping the memory of Milk alive, Nicoletta is also a well known photographer specializing in documenting the gay and lesbian community of San Francisco.

The real-life Nicoletta calls himself a “torch bearer of [Milk’s] memory,” and said, “I’m just thrilled I’m alive to see this happening. There’s something epic about it being a feature film, because people respond to them so strongly in this culture.”