Actors Kit Williamson and John Halbach
are engaged to marry.
“He's also looking ahead to a bright
future that includes marriage to his fiance John Halbach,”
Williamson's representative said in a statement given to PEOPLE.
Williamson, a 29-year-old Mississippi
native, is best known for playing Ed Gifford on AMC's Mad Men,
now in its final season.
Being a part of the show “held a
mirror up to the social inequalities of the '60s, made him see the
parallels of Mississippi's opposition to interracial marriage, then
to its opposition to gay marriage today. His Mad Men
character, Ed Gifford, would not have been able to legally marry a
woman of color,” Williamson's rep added.
Williamson and Halbach (Opious)
collaborated on the dark comedy web series EastSiders about a
gay couple dealing with infidelity.
They told gay glossy Out that
they've been together eight years and met in New York City.
“From our first date on we were a
unit,” Williamson
said.
“Growing up in Mississippi, I thought
there was no way I'd ever get married,” he continued. “I think
and I hope that it keeps me from taking it for granted.”
Halbach added that he feels lucky to be
alive in a time when getting hitched is an option for gays.