Former Giants defensive end Michael
Strahan and his fiancee Nicole Murphy have joined the Human Rights
Campaign's (HRC) New
Yorkers for Marriage Equality Campaign.
“As a defensive end for the New York
Giants, I always played the game tough but fair,” Strahan says in
the 30-second video released Friday. “And I feel it's unfair to
stop committed couples from getting married.”
“Please join us and support marriage
equality for all New Yorkers,” Murphy says.
“We believe everyone should have the
right to get married,” the 39-year-old Strahan says.
“Just as we do,” Murphy adds as the
pair beam at each other. (The video is embedded in the right panel
of this page.)
Strahan joins hockey player Sean Avery
and basketball player Steve Nash as the third professional athlete to
endorse, by recording a video, Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to make
New York the sixth state to legalize gay marriage.
“I have plenty of gay friends, and I
don't judge them,” Strahan
told The
New York Times.
“I want them to have all the same rights I have, and all the
opportunities I have to be in a relationship, a great relationship,
with the person that they're in love with.”
A
third poll released Friday found a majority (57%) of New Yorkers
in support of marriage equality.
But while support is at an all-time
high, the likelihood of passage this year is quickly fading with less
than 2 weeks left in the legislative session.