Brad Pitt: Gay marriage is about equality, opponents should stop linking the argument with drugs laws

Nov 27 2012
Written by James Park

Brad Pitt, one of the most outspoken advocates of marriage equality in Hollywood has restated his support for changing the law and questioned why opponents link arguments with those against reforming drug laws.

Speaking to MTV he said: “Equality, absolutely, that’s what defines us. It’s what makes us great.” In the interview, he welcomed the decision by Maine, Maryland and Washington state voters to approve same-sex marriage. “If it doesn’t
sit well with your religion, let your God sort it out in the end, but that’s us. We’re equal.”

But Pitt is confused why some opponents are linking the debate over equality to that of legalising marijuana. “I don’t understand that,” he said. “I do believe that we should be responsible for our own choices in talking about the drug laws, and that the drug war is an ultimate failure and that the billions and billions of dollars that we’ve committed to it, there’s got to be a better way. I don’t believe in incarceration over education — don’t get me started. But there’s real damage to drugs; that is not the same as with gay marriage. Since the last round [of elections], they’ve been linked in every article. I find that curious.”

When New York introduced equal marriage laws last year, Pitt said: “It is encouraging that New York has joined the movement to grant equal marriage rights to its citizens.

“But it is each American’s Constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit. No state should decide who can marry and who cannot.”

He added: “Thanks to the tireless work of so many, someday soon this discrimination will end and every American will be able to enjoy their equal right to marriage.”

In April, Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie have finally decided to abandon their pledge not to marry until every couple in the United States can do the same, gay or straight. The pair are now engaged but haven’t married as yet. The couple had indicated that they were facing pressure from their children to formalise their relationship.