Scott Fujita Plays in Americans for Marriage Equality Campaign

Super Bowl champion Scott Fujita makes the latest contribution to the Americans for Marriage Equality video series from the Human Rights Campaign.

In the 30-second spot released Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns linebacker says, "I've been married for 12 years and I know that it is unfair to keep other loving and committed couples from getting married and protecting their families."

The ad, which will run online, is the seventh in the Americans for Marriage Equality series, a public engagement campaign launched in October that aims to raise awareness as the issue looms in state legislatures, voting booths, and courtrooms for 2012. Polls show that a majority of Americans support marriage equality, and the campaign aims to reach key constituencies with messages from Newark, N.J., mayor Cory Booker, Academy Award winner Mo'Nique, former NAACP chairman Julian Bond, actor John Leguizamo, and others who have already contributed videos.

The campaign is modeled on the widely praised New Yorkers for Marriage Equality video series, which featured public officials, celebrities, and athletes including Sean Avery of the New York Rangers and Michael Strahan of the New York Giants. Fujita is one of the few NFL players to speak in favor of marriage equality, a group that also includes Strahan and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo, who contributed a video to the Marylanders for Marriage Equality campaign, a separate coalition effort, in October.

Read The Advocate'sinterview with Fujita about his gay rights advocacy on the eve of his Super Bowl XLVI win with the New Orleans Saints in 2010.