In an unprecedented move, top American celebrities and VIP’s including Jane Lynch, Anne Hathaway and Ellen DeGeneres have kicked off the "Say I Do" campaign this week by signing a letter to President Obama asking him for clarity on the topic of same-sex marriage and urging him to support an end to "exclusion from marriage."
The campaign will continue, according to the group, until Obama expresses his support, more details - Freedom to Marry,
Other whom have put their names to the letter and back the campaign include big names from the entertainment world, such as Eric McCormack, Martin Sheen, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner and Portia DeGeneres.
Ellen and Portia DeGeneres.
It’s not just actors, there are a raft of musicians too, including Melissa Etheridge, Mya and Rufus Wainwright, playwright Tony Kushner, and studio honchos Bob Wright, with wife Susan, and David Geffen, according to The LA Times.
Tech VIPs signing their names along with those of civil rights leaders and other activists include Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, Chris Hughes of Facebook, Sean Parker of Napster and Mark Pincus of Zynga, along with athletes Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita of the NFL.
"My wife and I were married in May of 2010, and I can say without a doubt that marriage matters," Lynch said in connection with the letter, which will be delivered to the White House by same-sex couples and families this spring.
"As President Obama continues his journey toward recognizing our right to equal taxation, protection and dignity under the law, I encourage him to listen to gay and lesbian couples and families so he can better understand how marriage equality affects us all."
Lynch and Lara Embry got hitched in Massachusetts, one of five states where same-sex couples can marry. Ellen DeGeneres married Portia de Rossi locally in 2008, during the window when same-sex marriage was legal in California. De Rossi has since changed her name to Portia DeGeneres.
Kushner and editor-writer Mark Harris, another signatory, had a commitment ceremony in New York in 2003 and planned to be wed in California in 2008, but ultimately tied the knot that year in Massachusetts. Tomlin is not married to Wagner, her partner since 1971, but said in February that although it's not her thing, "I certainly want anybody in the gay community to marry if they wish to."
"In law, in love, in life, marriage says 'we are family' in a way that nothing else does," the letter reads. "Marriage is the coming together of two lives, marked by a public promise of love and responsibility in front of friends and family. And marriage brings not only public respect and personal significance, but also a safety net of legal protections, rights, and responsibilities for which there is no substitute."
read the full report - Los Angeles Times
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