Greg in the Afternoon: A gay marriage edition with a Kathy Najimy interview; Gavin Newsom honored

I was in North Hollywood today to watch rehearsals and interview cast members of the upcoming production of Back to Bacharach and David, a musical review beginning a one-month run at The Music Box in Hollywood on April 15. The show celebrates all those classic song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Much more on that in the coming days. The show is being directed by one of the great straight allies Kathy Najimy. After we finished talking about the show, I wanted to get her thoughts on the Vermont legislature overriding a gubernatorial veto which now makes same-sex marriage legal in that state – just four days after it became legal in Iowa,

“I have a lot of thoughts on that,” she said. “I’m thrilled that the conversation is happening but I have to tell you, I’m horrified and shocked that it’s even a discussion that we have to have. That you take American citizens who pay taxes, they have to get a job, go to school, do all the things that American citizens are required to do.. And yet they don’t have that one right that every other American citizen has. A right that criminals have. Criminals have the right to marry. But that’s one right that someone has decided you don’t get to have. To me, it’s ridiculous.”

“That being said, I’m glad we’re moving forward, I’m hopeful about this administration. Proposition 8 was devastating. We all worked very hard on it and it was devastating. But, I think if you take a historic look, we’re moving forward. Gay marriage is sttill a brand-new issue on the table and as far as progress, I feel like there’s been a lot of progress. But, I’m like, ‘Really? Really in 2009 we’re talking about two people who love each other don’t have the right to be married? Based on what? And how is it any of your business? If you are a religious right conservative person, you don’t have to be gay or get married. It’s none of your business.”

GAVIN NEWSOM GETS AWARD IN NYC: The San Francisco Mayor received a leadership award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Monday in recognition of his work to advance marriage equality. During his acceptance speech, Newsom referenced Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1967 decision striking down bans on interracial marriage, as a reason why public opinion should not be used to decide marriage equality.

“Imagine if we did allow the people to decide in 1967 if there should be interracial marriage?” asked Newsom, armed with opinion polls from the era that showed 70% of Americans were opposed to interracial marriage. “Where would we have been and where we would be? The whole idea of submitting the rights of a minority to the whims of a majority is the reason we have a constitution.”