Advocate's Anne Stockwell writes:
As Dr. Niles Crane on the hit sitcom Frasier, David Hyde Pierce had a great deadpan. That also extended to his own life: for years he wouldn’t confirm or deny being gay. Since then he thawed enough to thank his longtime partner, Brian Hargrove, in his 2007 Tony Award acceptance speech. And on Saturday, Pierce was one baseball-capped protester among maybe 20,000 others marching for equality in Los Angeles. And on Saturday, Pierce was one baseball-capped protester among maybe 20,000 others marching for equality in Los Angeles. He was still deadpan -- dead serious. But in five minutes he told me more than he’s ever said in his stellar career. As we talked, I noticed Pierce was wearing a wedding ring. I asked, and he confirmed: “Yeah, we got married three weeks ago.”

Advocate.com: David, why are you here now? For a long time you’ve chosen to be circumspect about -- I remember you saying, “My life is an open book, I just don’t choose to read it.” Why now?

David Hyde Pierce: For one thing, I said that 15 years ago, so life has changed a lot in 15 years. But this is not about being gay. This is about having the basic right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and having that put up for a vote, not only here in California but across the country, and that is just fundamentally not what this country is about. And I completely understand the passions on both sides of this issue, but like I said, those rights are not negotiable no matter whether people like it or not. We’re not trying to force anything on anyone. We’re trying to go about our lives and live them the best that we can. So that’s why I’m here, and that’s why all these people are here.

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