Trashy Celebs

Brad Pitt announced Wednesday that he’s donating $100,000 to fight California’s Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that would eliminate same-sex couples’ right to marry.

“Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn’t harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8,” the actor said in a statement.

Pitt’s donation marks the largest thus far to the anti-Prop. 8 campaign by an A-list celebrity. Political strategist Chad Griffin, who is helping coordinate efforts in the entertainment industry to defeat the controversial initiative, said he is hopeful that the move will prompt others to get involved. He added that Democratic billionaire Ron Burkle has agreed to host a large fundraiser at his home in October to rally the entertainment industry against Prop. 8, which opponents say will take away important benefits such as health insurance and will complicate decision-making related to medical emergencies and other situations in domestic partnerships.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of dollars — much of it from outside California — has been donated to groups on both sides of the issue.

The measure was placed on the ballot after the California Supreme Court invalidated the state’s prohibition on same-sex marriage in May.

I just adore Brad Pitt, and not just because he is smoking hot, is partnered with someone even smokingly hotter, and because he seems to be such a rockin’ good daddy. (Seriously, those pictures of him taking Maddox or Pax out for hotdogs or carrying aroud Zahara or Shiloh would melt the heart of just about anyone, including Kim Jong Il or Leona Helmsly - if she wasn’t already dead.) I don’t even adore him because he gave a big chunk of change to defeat a proposition that I myself am strongly against. I adore him because he is willing to stand up and talk about how this proposition is wrong and how it should be defeated. He is willing to talk about how it is wrong to deny others the same rights that he and other straight folks can enjoy. A lot of people can ignore this issue because they feel it doesn’t affect them … if I’m not gay, then this doesn’t really factor into my life. But really, that’s not true, because discrimination is discrimination and that affects us all.

Thanks, Brad Pitt. And seriously, your kids are freakin’ adorable.