GLAAD officially launched the Brett Ratner-directed "Coming Out for Equality" PSA series today, with a spot and interview featuring actress Kristen Johnston making its premiere on Edge on the Net.com, which you can see here. The GLAAD 'Coming Out for Equality' PSA series features a diverse group of straight celebrities and athletes "coming out of the closet" as supporters of equality and calling for other Americans to speak out. Visit glaad.org/ally to join the #AllyNetwork and take action for LGBT equality, watch featured PSAs, and find resources to help make your community a safe and supportive space.
Comcast and NBCUniversal will serve as a leading media partner for the PSA campaign, contributing $1.5 million in national airtime on its Xfinity TV cable systems and bringing this important message to more than 20 million homes over the next year.
Johnston is well-known for her role on 3rd Rock From the Sun, and can currently be seen in the TV Land sitcom, The Exes. In the new spot she cheekily explains how she's lending "support" to the LGBT community. You can view Johnston's spot below, and see all the newly released spots on our Youtube channel here.
The actress also told Edge why she thought spreading this message was important, saying "Sometimes activism can alienate people...You have to help people understand everyone is ’just like me’." Johnston explains that the LGBT community were some of the first to embrace her early in her career, adding "Let's get out there! Let's change minds!"
Ratner directed and produced the PSA series, donating his time to raise support for LGBT people. Other participants include Jackie Chan, Giada De Laurentiis (Food Network), DeRay Davis (21 Jump Street), Hudson Taylor, Jaime King (Hart of Dixie), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Tamala Jones (Castle), Sarah Shahi (The L Word), and Pauley Perrette (NCIS). Additional participants and videos will be released later this month. The PSAs were produced by Kali Londono.