New Yorkers Wanted for Marriage Equality Videos

The Human Rights Campaign invites New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple to film their own video for the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign this Sunday in Manhattan.

The first “pop-up video” event will be held Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District at the intersection of Nine Avenue with Gansevoort and Little West 12th Streets, not far from the elevated High Line park. Notable attendees will include two-time Tony nominee Gavin Creel of Hair, Nick Adams of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and the cofounders of Broadway Impact, Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon) and Jenny Kanelos.

“We encourage all New Yorkers who believe in marriage equality to come out this Sunday and lend their voices to this effort,” said Brian Ellner, senior strategist for HRC in New York.

Videos will take only moments to film and will be posted afterward on the campaign’s page at the HRC website. Another “pop-up video” event will be held at a later date.

Until now, the New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign, which has played on the Web and on the city's Taxi TV, has featured celebrities and other prominent figures including elected officials to urge state residents to lobby their lawmakers to pass the marriage equality bill. The 30-second spots have been contributed by former first daughter Barbara Bush, mayor Michael Bloomberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, Mark and Sunrise Ruffalo and many, many more. See the latest video, from Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni, below.

The marriage equality bill failed to pass the state senate in 2009, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to push for another vote by June. A recent poll showed that 58% of New York voters, an all-time high, support marriage equality.

While the timing of any marriage equality vote remains unclear, the New York Post’s Page Six reported Friday that the Cuomo campaign committee will hold “the biggest fund-raiser yet” by “taking over” Broadway’s gay-identified Priscilla on June 14, just as Pride seasons kicks into high gear and around the scheduled end of the legislative session.