Playboy's Hugh Hefner: Marriage Equality Means Rights for All

Playboy's iconic 86-year-old founder Hugh Hefner is continuing his support for marriage equality, with an editorial in the September issue of his magazine.

“The fight for gay marriage is, in reality, a fight for all of our rights. Without it, we will turn back the sexual revolution and return to an earlier, puritanical time,” Hefner writes, according to Politico. “Today, in every instance of sexual rights falling under attack, you’ll find legislation forced into place by people who practice discrimination disguised as religious freedom. Their goal is to dehumanize everyone’s sexuality and reduce us to using sex for the sole purpose of perpetuating our species. To that end, they will criminalize your entire sex life.”

Hefner mentions several federal and state laws that restrict the rights of LGBT people. Hefner adds that the U.S. is simultaneously a religious and secular nation, but that people of all beliefs should be able to exercise all of their inalienable tights.

In 2009, Hefner was the subject of the documentary Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, which explored his early years, including his advocacy for gay inclusiveness.