Actress Mo'Nique is the latest
celebrity to urge Marylanders to support gay marriage in a new PSA.
“Hey, y'all, it's your girl
Mo'Nique,” the Precious star says in the 60-second spot for
the Marylanders for Marriage Equality campaign.
“I believe since we've all been given
free will, let's use our will to let others be free.”
“Gay and lesbian couples believe in
commitment, family and love. If you don't believe me, did you happen
to notice that all that's being asked for is the right to be married,
which ironically promotes commitment, family and love.” (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley
kicked off the video campaign earlier this month.
Just weeks after New York became the
sixth state to legalize gay marriage, O'Malley announced he would
follow in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's footsteps and shepherd a
marriage bill through the Maryland Legislature during the upcoming
legislative session. Last year, an effort to legalize the
institution failed in the House of Delegates after passage in the
Senate.
In his ad, O'Malley
argues that marriage equality and religious freedoms can coexist.
Pressure from religious groups has been credited with ending last
year's effort.