Out actor Daniel Franzese says that the
fight for LGBT equality continues after last month's landmark Supreme
Court ruling striking down gay marriage bans in all 50 states.
In an Attitude op-ed, the
37-year-old Franzese, who is best known for playing Damian in the
film Mean Girls and HIV-positive Eddie in HBO's gay drama
Looking, cheered the high court's decision.
“Let's bask in this, shall we?
Really soak it up. We are beginning a new future for our young LGBT
brothers and sisters that is truly better than the reality we grew up
in,” Franzese
wrote.
“That work shouldn't stop now
though,” he said. “[W]e need to end HIV/AIDS. … We must make
sure LGBT people are treated fairly in the education, housing,
employment and financial arenas.”
“Coming from an actor’s
perspective, I see the gay glass ceilings cracking every day as more
diversity appears on television year by year. We need to push
Hollywood to accelerate this because the more accurate portrayals
that we see of gay and lesbian people in the media – and even
moreso, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people – the more
we allow people to learn about them and remove stigma.”
“We need to stop bullying, and we
need to encourage our LGBT youth to hold their heads high.”
“We need to keep fighting for full
equality and we need to do it fabulously and inventively,” Franzese
added.