‘Big-hearted genius’: Rob Reiner’s legacy of never stopping fighting for LGBTQ+ rights

The acclaimed legendary film director Rob Reiner was tragically found dead at his home with his wife Michele on Sunday – and the world of Hollywood and beyond has been horrified at the news and the increasingly upsetting details that continue to emerge surrounding it. Rob Reiner was the director behind so many formative films that helped shape the industry as well as ones that likely had a profound resonance in those of us who LOVE films. From When Harry Met Sally to Misery, his films have shaped your taste one way or another. But beyond film, Rob Reiner was well known for his activism and he has been a fierce ally for LGBTQ people across his whole life – always sticking up for us and putting himself out there fighting for equality.

Rob Reiner was fighting for queer people as an actor in the 70s

Rob Reiner is famous for playing Mike Stivic in the comedy series All in the Family. When gay characters were still a rarity on television and often treated as the butt of the joke, Mike Stivic cut through that landscape by openly calling out homophobia, regularly challenging Archie Bunker’s slurs and rigid stereotypes head on.

Beyond the screen, Rob and Michele became enduring symbols of progress, widely celebrated for their commitment to equality and diversity. Both were acknowledged during their lifetimes by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and embraced by the wider LGBTQ+ community.

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Their activism was formally recognised in 2015, when the late couple were honoured at the HRC Las Vegas Gala for their contribution to the fight for marriage equality. This followed Rob’s co-founding of the American Foundation for Equal Rights in 2009, the organisation responsible for mounting the landmark legal challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. AFER, led by Rob, helped dismantle the anti-gay legislation and fuelled the broader movement that would go on to secure marriage equality nationwide.

This 2019 quote really shows how much he cared

At the 2019 HRC Los Angeles Dinner, Rob used his platform to speak out in defence of the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalised groups whose rights, he warned, remain under constant threat.

Addressing the audience, he urged a move away from division and scapegoating. “We have to move past singling out transgender, LGBTQ, Black, white, Jewish, Muslim, Latino,” he said. “We have to get way past that and start accepting the idea that we’re all human beings.”

Rob returned to that message by emphasising what unites people rather than what separates them. “We’re all human beings, we all share the same planet, and we should all have the same rights, period. It’s no more complicated than that.”

Until his death, untimely death at that, Rob Reiner continued to always fight for LGBTQ people wherever he could. And that meant of course tackling Donald Trump on his reduction of our rights. You only have to read Trump’s deranged statement from yesterday to see how that went down.

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Featured image via Image Press Agency / NurPhoto / Shutterstock