Al Franken promotes marriage equality in new video

While Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) may have once been a comedian, his support for marriage equality is no joke.

Franken and his wife Franni appear together in a new video for the Human Rights Campaign in support of same sex marriage rights.

"My wife, Franni, and I have been married for 36 years," Franken says. "I think everybody should be able to marry the person that they love. And I think our government should help people make those loving, lifelong commitments."

"Please join me and the majority of Americans who support marriage equality."

The senator on Wednesday also spoke in support of the first national Gay-Straight Alliance Day. He introduced a bill last year that would make it a crime to discriminate against students on the basis of their sexual identity.

"Our laws say nothing about sexual orientation or gender identity," Franken told activists on a conference call. "My bill would fix this. It will ban discrimination in schools based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Believe it or not, that is not illegal right now."

Although the Student Non-Discrimination Act has 34 co-sponsors, Franken said he needed more support in order to pass the 60-vote threshold and overcome a potential filibuster by Senate Republicans.

Watch this video from The Human Rights Campaign, broadcast Jan. 25, 2012.

(H/T: The American Independent)