Best Marriage Equality ad ever (video)

[Video Link] A PSA by "Why Marriage Matters (Maine)", featuring Harlan Gardner of Machias, ME along with four generations of his family, talking about what marriage means to him and why it matters to the gay and lesbian people in his life.

"It takes a great deal of bravery to be a lesbian. I am so proud of Katie and Alex," Mr. Gardner says. "Marriage is too precious a thing not to share. This isn't about politics. It's about family, and how we as people treat one another."

Man. Don't know about you, but I sure cried.

(via Steve Silberman)

• [Incipient Madness]

  Old WWII veteran with a quavering back woods New England accent. How can this not bring a tear to your eye?

  • [Donald Petersen]

    For those who have forgotten the value of love and tolerance and family, and how we as people treat one another… Pepperidge Farm remembers.

    Yeah, I giggle at the wrong things, but this still brought a tear to my throat and a lump to my eye as well.

• [MatthewKrohn]

  Awesome!  I don’t know if I’d call this /best/, as I do really like the one from GetUp Australia, but it’s up there.  I think what’s so great about all the marriage equality ads is that they use such a positive rhetoric.

  • [giantasterisk]

    I believe you mean this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LREpViJW8DU

    • [aeryn]

      You mean this one, surely?
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=_TBd-UCwVAY

      • [crummett]

         Well, that made me cry.

      • [SumAnon]

        ::wipes away tears::

      • [Itsumishi]

        Yep, that one makes me tear up every time.

• [Xof]

  Damn onions.

  • [thisbikeisatardis]

    Someone actually came out onto my porch and started cutting them RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE. Sheesh.

    • [mccrum]

      I don’t have an onions problem, it just gets awful dusty at times like this and stuff goes right into my eyes.

      • [SumAnon]

         Allergies. Seasonal allergies.

• [aeryn]

  That’s a pretty great ad. But the Ireland one is still my favorite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ULdaSrYGLQ

  • [professorpolymath]

    Thanks for sharing that one

  • [Itsumishi]

    Very clever indeed! Made me chuckle.

• [Boundegar]

  Nicely done, and it’s a big up yours to the governor of Maine.

  • [Comman Dax]

    Yeah, Gov. Paul LePage can get stuffed, he is pure poison. I love that this old fella hails from Machias, deep in conservative Washington County, rather than from Portland or Bangor. Make me proud, Maine. Do the right thing the next time around. 

• [hug h]

  Wisdom from a long life well lived.

• [Forkboy]

  Manly tears were shed.

• [Cornan]

  He’s talking about his war service in the beginning. That makes it ok for dudes to cry…right?

• [Tess]

  That’s lovely!  And that’s my home state, right there.  I know many men like him.  :)

  Oh, and he’s “some proud,” not “so proud.”

• [ab167]

  This is a nice middle finger to old people who think being old gives them a free pass for bigotry. And heaven knows there’s nothing I like better than giving the finger to bigoted old people.

• [mike]

  this ad from Argentina is well-done also.

• [Flarn Buckholter]

  Why can’t people marry goats?  My granddaddy didn’t storm the beaches at Normandy so Jed would have to sneak out to the barn on Friday nights for conjugal visits!

  • [Itsumishi]

    Seriously? You’re comparing marrying a goat to marrying a consenting person? FFS.

    • [Antinous / Moderator]

      I think that’s satire.

      • [Itsumishi]

        Clearly, but it still stinks of crass bullshit.

• [anharmyenone]

  Personal fave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7ddWLF_Fk

• [Palomino]

  I’m one of three boys, I’m gay, the other two are straight. My parents built houses for them, I fended for myself. Never mind that both of my brothers are now divorced, their houses foreclosed.

  When my brother’s 2nd wife of 2 years was diagnosed with a brain tumor, my parents circled the wagons. I was happy for him.

  When my partner of 7 years died of AIDS, I didn’t hear from a single member of my family.

  I guess I’m saying that the groups who are “sanctimonious” about their right to marry, don’t respect it very much.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Pretty much every gay person that I know who didn’t have the foresight to be an only child gets less attention/support/money/etc. than their straight siblings, even when their parents are verbally supportive of them. It’s like you’ve stepped outside their business model for life and they have no idea how to act. And it apparently never occurs to them to just act the same way that they would with anyone else.

    Almost my whole extended family is either gay, completely failed at being straight or none-of-the-above, so there’s no norm to adhere to.

• [Cori Frazer-Hopkinson]

  The closed captions are horrible. Talking about cattle and toothbrushes. I am so confused.