George Clooney: History Will Not Look Kindly On People Against Gay Marriage

by Michael Jones · 2010-08-31 09:18:00 UTC
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Probably didn't need a Hollywood actor to deliver this message. But then again, it doesn't hurt to have an A-list actor championing the cause of equality.

Courtesy of Good As You comes this nugget from Sunday's Emmy Awards, where George Clooney was honored with an award for his humanitarian work, particularly his efforts to address the wreckage in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. Backstage, Clooney spoke to reporters, and he was asked about Proposition 8, and whether he had any thoughts about gay marriage bans.

His response?

"These are those kinds of things that take a long, long time to change. Most people that are against the idea of Prop 8 feel that it's a civil right, and I agree that eventually it will become an archaic ... people will look back on this period of time and think of it as an archaic time," Clooney said.

Yes, much like people look back on the days of segregated drinking fountains, denying an entire gender the right to vote, and locking up people in internment camps as archaic.

Clooney's talk at the Emmy's was just one of probably 400 really gay moments of television at the annual awards fest. There was Jane Lynch becoming one of the first LGBT celebrities to win a major acting award for her performance in Glee. (She thanked her wife during her acceptance speech, too.) There was Eric Stonestreet winning an Emmy for his portrayal of a gay character on Modern Family. There was Archie Panjabi winning for her portrayal of a bisexual character on The Good Wife. There was Modern Family picking up the Emmy for best comedy, with its seriously inclusive storylines. And there was Neil Patrick Harris, winning a guest Emmy for an appearance on Glee.

Turns out that TV's most important night ended up being one of the gayest nights, too.

Meanwhile, here's looking forward to the day when all those history books talk about 2010 as part of the final days of the country's LGBT population being treated as second class citizens. Check out the video of George Clooney at the Emmys below.


Photo credit: csztova

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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