Colin Farrell wants voters living in Ireland to support gay marriage.
In a touching letter to Ireland's Sunday World, the Irish actor pleads with voters to support gay marriage in the country as Ireland prepares to vote on a referendum to legalize same-sex marriage.
The "Total Recall" star shared a personal story about his gay brother Eamon being bullied as a kid for acting differently and having to leave his native country to marry the love of his life.
"My brother Eamon didn't choose to be gay. Yes, he chose to wear eyeliner to school and that probably wasn't the most pragmatic response to the daily torture he experienced at the hands of school bullies," Farrell wrote in an essay.
"But he was always proud of who he was. Proud and defiant and, of course, provocative. Even when others were casting him out with fists and ridicule and the laughter of pure loathsome derision, he maintained an integrity and dignity that flew in the face of the cruelty that befell him."
Eamon and his partner Steven are currently living in peace at their home in Dublin, but the couple had to get married in Canada in order for their union to be celebrated. Ireland currently does not allow gay marriage.
"That's why this is personal to me," the actor shared. "The fact that my brother had to leave Ireland to have his dream of being married become real is insane. INSANE. It's time to right the scales of justice here. To sign up and register to vote next year so that each individual's voice can be heard."
More than 67 percent of voters support same-sex marriage in Ireland, according to an Irish Times poll. Ireland will vote on a referendum to legalize same-sex marriage in Spring 2015.
