Exclusive pics from Broadway's "Defying Inequality" concert

No doubt inspired by the heartfelt pro-gay marriage remarks of Milk’s Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, members of the Broadway community gathered at the Gershwin Theatre on Monday, February 23 for Defying Inequality, a celebrity benefit concert for equal rights for the GLBT community.

The show began with a live performance of Marc Shaiman’s Prop. 8: The Musical, the video version of which has become an Internet phenomenon.

In addition to such Broadway stars as Nathan Lane, Harvey Fierstein, David Hyde Pierce, and Jane Fonda (who is soon to open in 33 Variations), the standing room only event featured impassioned speeches and appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Carson Kressley, Judy Gold, political pundit Keith Olbermann, Ugly Betty stars Michael Urie and Mark Indelicato, and a host of other notables, as well as performances by the casts of a dozen Broadway shows.

Proceeds from the benefit will go to aid the work of the Empire Stage Pride Agenda, Equality California, Family Equality Council, Garden State Equality, and Vermont Freedom to Marry. (For further information, or to make donation, visit jointheimpact.com or phone 212-768-8255.)

For information on Broadway Impact, a grassroots coalition of the theatre community and its fans, mobilizing in support of marriage equality, visit their website. 

Here are Michael Portantiere’s exclusive photos of this extraordinary event.

Marc Shaiman, music man and civil rights activist

Allison Janney, David Hyde Pierce, and company as
the bad guys in Prop. 8: The Musical

Jesus (Nathan Lane) chides the religious right

Barack Obama (Daniel Breaker) and family arrive on the scene