PHOTOS: Celebs Design Same-Sex Wedding Bands for Charity

A visit to almost any jeweler quickly tells same-sex couples that the wedding band industry is still stuck in traditions. So when his home state approved marriage equality, gay New Yorker Sam Street decided to create a new line for people like him.

Proposition Love was founded in July 2011 and creates wedding rings for same-sex couples and gay pride rings while always donating at least 10% of its proceeds to the eight charities that Street supports on marriage equality, LGBT youth and anti-bullying, and HIV/AIDS activism. But a new "LOVE IS LOVE" Celebrity Charity Auction will send 100% of the cash to a charity selected by celebrities who have helped design 10 wedding bands.

The big names include Kathy Griffin, Travis Wall, and Perez Hilton (who are donating to The Trevor Project and The Point Foundation) and bidding is open until December 18. Street said he first approached the celebrities with ideas. He explained that Propostion Love usually incorporates a triangle "as a symbol of the ongoing gay rights movement" into the designs and then the celebs used that as a jumping off point for their own ideas.

The Advocate spoke with Street about his own marriage, what makes for a good ring, and which of the celebrity designs is his favorite. Check out the designs on the following pages.

The Advocate: What inspired you to make jewelry that also supports marriage equality?
Sam Street: Everyone should have the right to marry who they love.  No one should be denied their basic civil rights. Just days after our wedding in San Francisco in 2008, Proposition 8 was voted in. The fact that the right to marry was given to us and denied to others prompted us to become proactive in the marriage equality movement.