LOS ANGELES -- George Takei and his longtime love, Brad Altman, are still legally wed. So are Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi. Both couples tied the knot during the five-month window when same-sex marriage was legal in California.
But the state Supreme Court's decision Tuesday to uphold Proposition 8, the gay-marriage ban approved by voters in November, made legal nuptials impossible going forward — and Hollywood isn't happy.
Several of its heavyweights opened their wallets to oppose the measure last year. Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw gave $100,000. So did Brad Pitt. DeGeneres made a public service announcement urging voters to oppose the ballot initiative and purchased $100,000 of television commercial time for her ad.
But on Tuesday, celebrities took to the Web.
Kathy Griffin wrote on Twitter — where the court's ruling was among the top topics Tuesday — that she and her 89-year-old mother planned to protest the decision by marching in West Hollywood, Calif. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton used his site to call the court's decision "wrong wrong wrong!" and urged his readers to protest.
Here's a look at what some other stars had to say about the court's decision:
- "It seems that the California Supreme Court justices decided to be indecisive," said Takei, who married Altman Sept. 14, 2008. "Our marriage is intact, but this issue is not settled. Inequality is still the rule of the land."
- "I'm sure you heard the prop 8 news," DeGeneres wrote on Twitter. "One day when everyone is treated with full equality, we'll look back and realize how wrong this was."
- "Those full of hate and fear will surely be disappointed that 18,000 same sex couples will be living in wedded bliss, kissing their spouses goodnight, checking off those little 'married' boxes on all those forms we fill out nowadays. That's really going to drive them crazy," Melissa Etheridge, who exchanged vows with her longtime partner in a 2003 ceremony, said in a statement. "I am hopeful as I see more and more states turn to the inevitable future of equality, California will get there. Change takes time."
- "I blame Miss California," Margaret Cho wrote on Twitter.
- "That's just awful," Elton John said in an interview on AccessHollywood.com. "When you see places like Iowa saying yes, there's now five states in America (where same-sex marriage is legal). California is supposed to be a progressive state. It defies logic to me. I'm very disappointed."
- "This really makes me sad," Kim Kardashian wrote on her blog. "I thought we were more forward thinking than this, and I'm disappointed in the Supreme Court for being so closed minded. Everyone... gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, EVERYONE should have equal rights to marry who they want to."
- "Gay and lesbian residents of this state are being denied the same rights, privileges and protections that heterosexual couples have when they marry civilly," Hilton blogged. "That is NOT right! That is not fair! That is wrong wrong wrong! This is about equality!"
