Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced
Friday that they're engaged, despite the couple's vow not to marry
until gay couples can legally join them.
Pitt first made the declaration in a
2006 Esquire
interview.
“Angie and I will consider tying the
knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is
legally able,” the 48-year-old actor said.
The couple has since reiterated the
pledge and given generously to the cause of marriage equality.
In December, Pitt told Ellen DeGeneres:
“I've said that we would not be getting married until everyone in
this country had the right to get married.”
(Related: Brad
Pitt tells Terry Gross he doesn't get gay marriage bans.)
In recent interviews, however, the
couple has said that their six children have been pressuring them to
marry.
Response has been mixed.
Equality California (EQCA), the state's
largest gay rights advocate, supported the couple's decision.
“Marriage is something that says
'we're a family' in a way that nothing else can,” Rebekah Orr,
communications director for EQCA, told TMZ.com.
“No one has to deny that for themselves or their family to prove
they are an ally and supporter of equality.”
GLAAD
congratulated the couple on their engagement: “We congratulate them
on their engagement and thank them for continuing to speak out about
the inequality that so many gay and lesbian couples face today. No
loving and committed couple should be denied the happiness, joy, and
legal protections that come with marriage.”
But Brian Moylan, a staff reported with
Hollywood.com,
called the reversal a disappointment.
“I'm sorry, Brangelina, but real
fighters for civil rights don't buckle under pressure when it gets
hard,” Moylan said, then added: “If they're going to break their
pledge and get married, the least they can do is hit their friends up
for donations for marriage equality at the ceremony.”
“Leading by example is what gay and
lesbian Americans really need, but since they're failed at that,
we'll at least take their money.”