Where Does Ricky Martin Wants to get married At?

Ricky Martin might be the most famous gay man on the planet. The international pop star, who made history by coming out earlier this year, is barnstorming the national media with appearances on talk shows left and right to promote his new memoir, Me. He's done The View. He's scheduled for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. And last night, he stopped by and paid Larry King's suspenders a visit. What did he have to say?

That while he could go anywhere in the world to marry his partner, he wants to do so in his home of Puerto Rico. And he's not going to stop speaking out until marriage equality is the law of the land.

"Yes, we could go to Spain and get married. We can go to Argentina and get married. But why do we have to go somewhere else? Why can't I do it in my country where the laws are - you know, protecting me?" Martin said. ""I can go to Spain. I have many friends in Spain. And get married. And make it very beautiful and symbolic. But... I (can't) do it in the backyard of my house. I want to have that option. I don't want to be a second class citizen anymore. I pay my taxes. Why can't I have that right?"

Here, here, Mr. Martin! And what perfect timing to deliver such a stirring message, since yesterday marked the latest in a series of legal challenges to that archaic yet discriminatory law known as the Defense of Marriage Act.

As we mentioned yesterday, the group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) filed a lawsuit in Connecticut challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. They brought the lawsuit on behalf of a group of plaintiffs who are legally married in various New England states, yet do not have their relationship recognized by the federal government. It's the second challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act brought forward by GLAD, which earlier this year won a case in Massachusetts federal court, when Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that parts of the Defense of Marriage Act were unconstitutional. That case is now on appeal in the federal courts.

A second case was filed in New York, on behalf of an 81-year-old widow who, because the federal government didn't recognize her same-sex marriage, had to pay $350,000 to the federal government in the form of an estate bill. Imagine being told that you owe the federal government $350,000 at the age of 81, all because of who you loved in this world. Sound outrageous? Indeed.

So when Ricky Martin says that he pays taxes, and wants the full plate of civil rights offered to straight people, he's speaking on behalf of generations of people, both Puerto Ricans and Americans alike.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.