Photo: Getty Images
This past weekend marked 72 staggering hours of activism on the part of thousands of people across the country. Queerty (which has lots of pics and videos from the invididual protests) reports that from Fairbanks, Alaska, where 32 people protested Prop 8 to New York City where over 5,000 people (not including each double decker tour bus that passed by filled with cheering tourists) rallied, all together more than 100,000 people came out to support legalizing gay marriage.
Here's a quick wrap up of the celebrity highlights:
> Before the Saturday protests could even get underway, Ashton Kutcher had his say on Real Time with Bill Maher. I have to admit I've always thought Ashton was kind of a douche (and I kind of think he'd be the first to agree -- that's sort of his shtick) but when he gets visibly upset and goes off at the end of this clip I got chills:
> Pete Wentz was due to pay the Larry King show a visit Friday night to chat about Prop 8, but "due to breaking news" (AKA Ashlee's water breaking and baby Wentz on the way?) he had to cancel. He did send this message via his website: "I look forward to the chance to continue supporting civil rights
and speaking out against the passing of proposition 8 and others like
it (I'm looking at you Arizona and Florida) whenever and wherever I can."
> Looking for an even harder rocking declaration of equality love? GNR shredder Slash and his wife Perla Hudson made this video:
> Wanda Sykes attended the Las Vegas protest Saturday and used the occasion to officially, publicly come out of the closet. The comedian, who married her partner on October 25, told the crowd, "I don't really talk about my sexual orientation. I didn't feel like I had to. I
was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was
living my life." But once Prop 8 passed she says, "We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back. I
felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked -- our community was
attacked." The next step? "Now, I gotta get in their face," Sykes said. "I'm proud to be a
woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay."
And we're proud and happy to finally have you join our ranks. And while it's great to see that so many celebrities -- both queer and straight -- have our backs, what's more exciting is seeing everyday people joining together en masse demanding their rights. Hopefully, as George Clooney eloquently put it, "At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won't be an issue, and
everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as
George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from
entering the University of Alabama because he was black."
-- NOAH MICHELSON
Previously > Pete Wentz to talk Prop 8 > Melissa Etheridge ain't payin' her taxes
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