Brad Pitt Gives $100,000 to State Marriage Equality Battles

Brat Pitt has pledged a $100,000 matching donation challenge to fight for same-sex marriage ballot measures in the four states that have them this November. Pitt makes the offer in a fundraising letter from the Human Rights Campaign:

It's unbelievable to me that people's lives and relationships are literally being voted on in a matter of days.

In Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, voters will go to the polls to decide if gay and lesbian couples – our friends and neighbors – are worthy of the same protections as everyone else.

But that's the system we have and I'm not going to back down from the fight for loving and committed couples to have the ability to marry. Especially when groups like the Human Rights Campaign are fighting these battles day-in and day-out.

So, here's what I'm going to do. If you make a contribution to these ballot measure campaigns in the next 24 hours, I'll double it – every dollar of the way, up to $100,000.

This is our last chance to make a difference. If you're like me, you don't want to have to ask yourself on the day after the election, what else could I have done?

Every person's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is enshrined in our country's Declaration of Independence, but powerful, well-funded groups are flooding the airwaves with lies trying to take away those rights from certain people... and we can't stand for it.

The L.A. Times reports that the contribution is a "rare political donation" from Pitt:

His involvement in the four current state ballot measures stems from his past work with Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, who sits on the board of Pitt's nonprofit housing foundation in New Orleans.

Gay marriage advocates are hoping the actor's backing will provide a last-minute jolt of energy as they seek to achieve a historic victory next week over opponents of same-sex marriage, who have consistently prevailed at the ballot box.

The ballot measures in Maine, Maryland and Washington seek to legalize gay marriage, while the Minnesota initiative would ban same-sex marriage. The Human Rights Campaign has already donated $5 million to the state campaigns. Pitt's donation will be split evenly among them, and organizers hope it will spur more giving.

"There's not one of our campaigns that doesn't have additional needs," Griffin said. "Getting an email from Brad is something that gets people's attention at a time when everyone's inbox is incredibly crowded."

Sally Field And NAACP's Ben Jealous Honored At HRC Gala: VIDEOS

Towleroad intern Sam Greisman mentioned last Friday that he was headed to DC to present his mother Sally Field with HRC's Ally for Equality Award. So he did, and he was marvelous, setting the stage with stories of gratitude and humor before the lovely actress took the mic to deliver a touching and eloquent speech of her own.

Field's remarks, delivered after she removed her heels to meet the mic halfway, emphasized the biological innateness of being gay. "Sam is what nature intended him to be," she told the audience. She knew well before her son that he was gay, of course, and had wanted to explain it all to him, but thanks to her other sons' insistence, she let Sam find his own way. And she couldn't be more proud.

Parents who kick out their children or turn their backs, she said, need to realize "these children have something important to teach their parents:" Love and acceptance. Some children are gay, she explains, "So the f*ck what?"

In addition to the always lively Field, last night's festivities also included speeches from Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Newark's hero mayor, Cory Booker, as well as the presentation of the National Equality Award to the NAACP and its president, Ben Jealous.

Introduced by HRC president Chad Griffin and a video highlighting his organization's commitment to equality, Jealous told the audience that we owe it to our children to turn our pledge of allegiance — "liberty and justice for all," in case you've forgotten — into a reality.

"As an American people, we celebrate the many times that our nation has led this world away from hate and ever toward hope," he said. "In this precipitous moment, when we as a movement are on the brink of massive change and tremendous progress...let us stand up for marriage equality from coast-to-coast and border-to-border!"

Watch videos of all the speeches, including Sam's introduction of Ms. Field (!), AFTER THE JUMP.

HRC President Explains FRC's 'Hate' Status as NOM Fundraises by Accusing 'Gay Activists' of Attempted Murder

Human Rights Campaign PResident Chad Griffin writes an op-ed in the Washington Post discussing the Corkins shooting and why the Family Research Council is labeled a hate group:

It is not unexpected that, when such incidents occur, people want to understand them and question why someone could be so callous with human life. But the logic that the Southern Poverty Law Center or LGBT organizations are to blame is preposterous, outrageous and irresponsible. No matter one’s political views, we can all agree that acts of violence are never justified and should always be condemned.

Designating the Family Research Council a hate group has nothing to do with disagreements about marriage equality, nondiscrimination laws or any other policy debate. The real issue is the Family Research Council’s well-documented and continuous pattern of hateful rhetoric.

For a long list of FRC's hateful rhetoric, look HERE.

Griffin concludes: "We welcome the calls for reasoned discourse about LGBT equality. But that discussion must be predicated on truth, not demonization. No right-thinking person can believe a difference of opinion is license to do harm. At least on that, all of us can agree."

Meanwhile, the National Organization for Marriage is fundraising off the shooting, using the line: 'We're not going to allow gay activists to get away with attempted murder!'

Writes Jeremy Hooper: "He is seriously laying the attempted act of one crazed person at the feet of me, you, and anyone who debates on the side of civil marriage equality. That is not an overstatement. Brian Brown, National Organization For Marriage president (i.e. the man leading all four state ballot fights), just said "We're not going to allow gay activists to get away with attempted murder!" as if that is what "gay activists™" want/seek. His attempted conflation is as obvious as it is dangerous and it is outrageous! Oh, and by the way Brian—virtually every LGBT activist I know is either fine with or insistent that Floyd Corkins' act of violence be investigated as a hate crime! Remember, we are the ones who argued in favor of bias-motivated crimes being investigated for what they are. FRC is the organization that vehemently opposed the idea!"

HRC President Faces Ballot Tests On Evolving Political Terrain

A new Washington Post article on the obstacles and tests facing new Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin gives a glimpse of how fresh ballot measures are being fought against a backdrop of fissures among LGBT activists:

...Griffin has been tasked with stopping the streak of losses in statewide tests of same-sex marriage. This fall, the 39-year-old Arkansas native will be faced with ballot initiatives in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington state that could overturn marriage rights for gays. He can count on mounds of money, with the HRC’s donors contributing about $40 million each year. But with it come almost as many opinions about how the contributions should be spent.

A few decades ago, awareness and empowerment were a unifying goal for the gay community. AIDS created new bonds as gay men and lesbians fought disease, hostility, ignorance and the institutional torpor in response to the plague. Slowly, the movement has matured, expanded the conversation to consider schoolyard bullying, teenage suicide and the challenges of starting a family. Still, unlike other civil rights groups, which are united by skin color or ethnicity or faith, the gay community remains difficult to steer.

As a Southern friend of mine might say, it can be like herding cats. On one side there are the "tuxedo gays" accused of championing marriage above all else and on the other, there are activists who would rather focus energies on employment non-discrimination action and other bread-and-butter policies.

Many agree, however, that if anyone can bridge the perceived divides, it's Griffin. Even Brian Brown, the head of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, confessed, "[Griffin] knows what he’s doing," but the real verdict will be read come November.

Arkansas Upbringing Informs Chad Griffin's Gay Activism

You may or may not know this, but Chad Griffin is the first southerner to head up Human Rights Campaign, the Washington-based LGBT activist group. And according to AP reporter Jeannie Nuss' profile on Griffin and his current work, growing up in Arkansas and its religious culture had a deep impact on the new HRC president.

Arkansas helped shape Griffin into the leader he is today: a man uniquely qualified to fight a civil rights battle that will be difficult, even after President Barack Obama came out in support of same-sex marriage this year.

As the first Southerner to head the Washington-based group, Griffin has a knack for translating the fight for gay rights into language familiar to people in the Bible Belt. He sometimes borrows phrases from the pulpit — brothers and sisters, God's children — to advocate equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

"This is nothing more than the golden rule," Griffin told community leaders during his visit last month. "Treat others as you wish to be treated."

The article goes on to mention that Griffin was born in a town called Hope, which boasts former President Bill Clinton and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as native sons, and that Griffin's work today is in large part influenced by the racial divides that exist in the state.

"If you remember those famous photos from the '60s and the civil rights movement, you didn't only see African-Americans marching down the street," Griffin told Nuss. "You saw them marching arm in arm with their white brothers and sisters."

New HRC President Chad Griffin Discusses Harassment of LGBT Youth with Andrea Mitchell: VIDEO

New Human Rights Campaign President Chad GRiffin appeared on Andrea Mitchell Reports yesterday to discuss a new report on the harassment of LGBT youth.

According to the report 54% of LGBT teens are verbally harassed, 1/3 aren't accepted by their families, 92% hear negative messaging about them, and 60% hear negative messaging from elected officials.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...