Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash is
the latest professional athlete to join the Human Rights Campaign's
(HRC) New
Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign.
“Hi, I'm Steve Nash,” the
37-year-old athlete says in his 30-second video ad released Monday.
“I spend my summers in New York and I love playing at the Garden.”
“A growing number of professional
athletes are speaking out in support of gay and lesbian couples
getting married. I'm proud to be one of them.”
“Join me and the super majority of
New Yorkers who support marriage equality,” Nash adds. (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Nash follows in the foot steps of New
York Rangers winger Sean Avery, whose
endorsement of gay marriage rocked the world of professional sports.
Nash's ad was released soon after Chicago
Bulls center Joakim Noah apologized on Sunday for using an anti-gay
slur.
Nash and Avery are among the growing
number of professional athletes, celebrities and prominent
politicians to record a video for the campaign that began last year.
Five gay rights groups – including
HRC – last month announced the formation of New
Yorkers United for Marriage to begin a new push for the
legalization of gay marriage in New York. The campaign is being
coordinated out of Governor Andrew Cuomo's office.
Former
President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea Clinton have also
thrown their support behind New York's latest effort to legalize gay
marriage.
A
Gallup poll released last week found 53% of Americans support
marriage equality.