Brad Pitt Goes Gay (Kind of); I Do What He Tells Me (Sort of); You Should Too (Perhaps)

If you know me, you know that I don't believe in such quaint ideas a "service" and "sacrifice" and "generosity"—I mean, those notions are nice and all, but they're so damn inconvenient. Sure, I'll do the occasional favor if someone asks, but that won't stop me from complaining loudly about it before, during, and after. This is my world; you just happen to live in it.

So you'd better stop the presses because I agreed to appear at "Love, Tolerance, and Other Radical Ideas: A Fundraiser to Support Marriage Equality and Defeat Proposition 8," a buffet-and-performance (you had me at "buffet") benefit on October 11, 2008, in San Francisco. California's Proposition 8 aims to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage because, apparently, some people can't get enough of the civil rights injustices of the 1950s.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, I declared on this very blog, "If I have to go to another fucking wedding, I may very well shoot myself." But I do believe in such crazy, liberal, radical ideas as equal protection under the law. So I will willingly suffer double the number of weddings that are bound to happen in the coming years. Do you see the sacrifice I'm making?! (Plus, Brad Pitt inspired me to do it with his humanitarian gay ways, and I have to do it if Brad Pitt tells me—besides, I have his underwear, but that's another story. Seriously. No. Seriously.)

I know I'm preaching to the converted here (right?), so I won't go into explaining why, in 2008, same-sex marriage is, you know, okay. (Well, just in case, look here: "civil unions" do not carry the same, full benefits of "marriage," so it is not just a matter of semantics.) So if you're in California, remember to vote NO on Proposition 8. If you're in San Francisco, come to the fundraiser if you are so inclined. I mean, let me show you why you are needed:

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have contributed more than a third of the approximately $15.4 million raised since June 1 to support Proposition 8....

The Mormon Church decision to enlist members on behalf of the same-sex marriage ban has given supporters of Proposition 8 a fund-raising lead. The campaign to defeat the initiative has collected around $13 million so far, said Steve Smith, a top campaign consultant for No on 8, Equality for All. Both sides raised roughly equal amounts in the early stages, said Mr. Smith, but "all of a sudden in the last few weeks they are out-raising us, and it appears to be Mormon money."

Read more about that here.

The fabulous fundraiser, at which I will be presenting a delightful story or two (along with amazing storyteller Tanya Shaffer), benefits Equality for All. If you can't make it, consider doing The Brad Pitt Thing and giving some to help the cause. You might not be able to throw around $100,000 like he did, but you can easily donate a bit here.