Facebook Profile Pictures Go Red In Support Of Gay Marriage Rights

Facebook is going red in support of marriage equality.

As the Supreme Court convened to decide the fate of marriage equality -- and more specifically, the fate of Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriages in California -- numerous Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to a red-hued version of the logo belonging to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

The standard HRC logo features a yellow equals sign against a navy background, but the group posted a red version to its Facebook page on Tuesday morning and encouraged users to adopt it as their avatars.

"Make sure you wear red to show your support for marriage equality. And make your Facebook profile red too!" the HRC told its over 1 million Facebook followers. By Tuesday afternoon, its post had been shared over 45,000 times and had received over 13,000 "likes."

Mashable notes that the move to adopt the HRC profile picture gained notable support after actor George Takei updated his own with the logo. LGBTQ@Facebook, the social network's official resource page, also changed its picture to the HRC's, and shared a story about the advocacy group's push.

Interestingly, the HRC had previously opposed the idea of bringing Proposition 8 before the Supreme Court. In a 2009 document co-signed by the HRC, American Civil Liberties Union, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Equality Federation, among other organizations, the groups argued that "the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California."

You can find out more -- and download the HRC's image -- from the HRC's Facebook page here.