Morgan Freeman lends his voice to marriage equality

The fight for expanding marriage-equality laws across America has a powerful new ally: Morgan Freeman’s voice.

This 30-second Human Rights Campaign ad, narrated by the iconic actor, intertwines historic civil rights movements, such as women’s suffrage, to provide a context for gay rights as our country’s next milestone.

The television ad started airing Sunday, but the two versions (the other is a 40-second Web-only “extended” cut) have a combined 107,000 views since their online release Saturday.

“We’re standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love,” Freeman boomed. “And, with historic victories for marriage, we’ve delivered a mandate for full equality.”

Freeman is referencing the results from this month’s elections: Voters in Maryland, Maine, and Washington approved same-sex marriage laws. “The wind is at our back, but our journey has just begun,” Freeman said.

Reactions to the video are split between the pro- and anti-gay-marriage camps, but the top-voted comments are supportive.

“To all of you haters out there, I take refuge in what my father told me when I asked him why so many people were opposed to the Civil Rights Legislation of 1964 and held on to old ways of intolerance and hatred. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘Sometimes the world changes slowly, one funeral at a time. Dinosaurs just need to die.’ I now understand what he meant,” wrote curtispsf.

Photo via hrcmedia/YouTube