Celebrities ask President Obama to speakout for marriage equality

The New York-based group Freedom to Marry says Anne Hathaway [pic] and Martin Sheen are among a group of actors, athletes and business leaders urging President Barack Obama to support marriage rights for same-sex couples. R&B singer Mya and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also signed an open letter calling on the president to back gay marriage.

According to the AP, the letter will be delivered to the White House this spring. Obama has said he supports civil unions as an alternative to marriage equality, and his views on the subject are evolving. His administration announced this month that it would no longer defend the federal law barring government recognition of same-sex unions.

Anne Hathaway recently quit Catholicism for her gay brother.

[via AP]