I'm thrilled to announce that today, March 6, I'll be officiating a same-sex marriage ceremony in New York City. Though the couple won this through my "Love Is Love" contest on our Happily Divorced Facebook page, I take the job quite seriously. I'm just so happy I can leverage my celebrity to help bring focus to marriage equality for all.
People ask if I'll be nervous officiating the ceremony, and I say, "Please, I may have gotten my minister's license, but I'm still a Jewish woman, and if there's one thing we're comfortable doing, it's giving orders."
The heart has reasons that reason does not know. When Cupid's arrow strikes (whether it's opposite-sex couples, racially mixed couples, or same-sex couples), it's a feeling that can't be denied. Love in all its diversity is a part of the human experience.
I split my time between New York and California; same-sex marriage is legal in the former, and in the latter, an appeals court in San Francisco recently ruled the state's voter-passed ban on gay marriage (Prop 8) unconstitutional. I agree wholeheartedly with Judge Reinhardt's decision that denying same-sex couples from marrying "has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples."
We are so lucky to call ourselves Americans, and the very first nation "of the people, by the people, and for the people." We shine like a beacon of freedom for all the world's inspiration, and as such, it is our duty to uphold (rather than compromise) our constitution's promise of liberty and justice for all.
Marriage equality is our opportunity to once again rise above the fray and to mature into a better version of ourselves. "Love Is Love" means just that. It is neither conditional nor gender related. Love is the most positive connection two human beings can share. Anyone who considers love between two consenting adults a negative thing does not understand the meaning of the word "love."
I've always been vocal about standing up against social injustices. There's a reason God gave me this voice, right?
I look forward to the day when I can "pronounce" same-sex marriage no longer illegal: "You may now kiss that outdated law goodbye!"
Happily Divorced premieres on TV Land on Wednesday, March 7 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. Visit the show's Facebook page for more info.