Chelsea Clinton spoke in support of marriage equality this weekend. Her father also lent his support, with this statement:
“Our nation’s permanent mission is to form a ’more perfect union’ — deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community. That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.”
To come from the man who signed DOMA, that is welcome.
The New York Times noted this weekend that, among the many celebrities and public figures who had lent their voices to the campaign for marriage equality in New York, athletes had been conspicuously absent. Not so anymore, now that New York Rangers forward Sean Avery has made a video declaring himself a New Yorker for marriage equality:
The Times article gives more background from a phone interview with Avery:
“The places I’ve played and lived the longest have been in West Hollywood, Calif., when I played for the L.A. Kings, and when I moved to New York, I lived in Chelsea for the first four years,” Avery said in a phone interview. “I certainly have been surrounded by the gay community. And living in New York and when you live in L.A., you certainly have a lot of gay friends.”
Avery, who lives in the SoHo section of Manhattan and keeps a home in Los Angeles, said some of those friends had wanted to marry, and he saw no reason they should not.
“I’m certainly open to it,” he said. “Maybe I can help, and I jumped at this opportunity.”
Very cool. The more people who go public supporting the very mainstream position of equality for all Americans, the quicker this fight will be over.
