CAMPAIGN TO MARRY MODERN FAMILY’S CAM & MITCH

The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a campaign calling on the producers of the popular television show Modern Family to marry the show’s gay couple, Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker.

The campaign comes as Americans await the Supreme Court’s decisions on two important marriage equality cases and as a stream of states pass marriage equality measures.

“The freedom to marry is being advanced in American living rooms as much as in court rooms,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.

“As we wait for the Supreme Court to rule, we want to keep this issue on the minds and screens of Americans everywhere.”

The ACLU has urged Americans to visit ModernFamilyWedding.com and ‘RSVP’ to the fictional wedding, indicating that they will watch Cam and Mitch get married and letting the Modern Family producers know that a wedding episode would be a ratings hit.

“The ACLU has been working since 1936 to guarantee the rights of lesbian and gay people, and we see sending Cam and Mitch down the aisle before 13 million American viewers as the perfect next step,” said Romero.

The ACLU plans to deliver the “guest list” created by this RSVP to the producers Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd.

“The delivery will be timed to capitalise on the energy arising out of the landmark Supreme Court cases to be decided this summer, as the writers and producers are scripting the next season of Modern Family,” explained the organisation.

Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell in the show, responded to the campaign on Twitter. “Love this!  Thank you ACLU! Maybe once Prop 8 is overturned!” he said.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in the US states of Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as in the District of Columbia.

The growing support for marriage equality in America comes as the US Supreme Court is expected to hand down decisions on two marriage-related cases by the end of June.

Hollingsworth v. Perry challenges the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, and United States v. Windsor, challenges the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognising gay marriages in states where they are legal.