Hollywood social media give same-sex marriage ruling a big thumbs up

Veteran actor Ian McKellen celebrated with a Vine video. Singer Miley Cyrus rejoiced with some screaming and a few emojis. And talk show host Ellen DeGeneres summed up her joy in two words and a hashtag.

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court ruled Friday that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. And many in the arts and entertainment world were ecstatic about the 5-4 decision — with most tapping their thumbs and relaying messages via social media.

From DeGeneres and actor George Takei to singer Joe Jonas and actress Lena Dunham, a cascade of social media declarations and press-circulated statements lauded the ruling.

DeGeneres, who helped change the conversation about gays with her short-lived ABC sitcom “Ellen,” kept her thoughts on Friday’s ruling succinct when tweeting to her nearly 45 million followers: “Love won. #MarriageEquality.”

Others, like Dunham, sent a series of tweets on the decision. Dunham has been vocal that she won’t consider marrying musician-boyfriend Jack Antonoff until same-sex marriage is legalized — and on Friday she tweeted to Antonoff, “Get on it, yo.”

Outside of the 140-character limit, Dunham said in a statement that the moment was a “beautiful and essential step in recognizing the humanity of LGBTQ Americans. I honor those who have bravely and tirelessly fought to make this a right and not a privilege for everyone living under our flag, with a special shout out to those at the Human Rights Campaign.”

Meanwhile, veteran actors McKellen and Derek Jacobi, wearing matching “Stonewall Inn” T-shirts, posted a video to Vine in which McKellen said, “Well done, Supreme Court. About time,” as Queen’s “We Are the Champions” played in the background.

Hollywood has long had a reputation of being progressive — though there’s been some criticism that more still needs to be done on TV and in film to better represent the LGBT community.

At the same time, many in the music industry have been outspoken in their support of gay rights but are only just now starting to see shifts in what it means to be gay and popular through artists such as Frank Ocean and Sam Smith.

After Obama declared his support of same-sex marriage in 2012, Jay Z told CNN that opposing same-sex marriage is “no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.” And last year, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ song “Same Love” served as the soundtrack for 33 couples who were wed during the Grammy Awards.

“I can’t stop crying. God bless love,” wrote Mary Lambert, the lesbian singer whose chorus on “Same Love” became one of mainstream pop music’s most overt anthems in support of the cause. “Shoutout to every single human being who has worked tirelessly and fought for us.”

Smith, the Grammy-winning British singer whose 2014 album “In the Lonely Hour” was one of the most successful debuts in recent pop history, wrote on Instagram that “times are changing my friends. We have such a long way to go and so much more fighting to do so I hope nobody stops and thinks everything’s OK because it isn’t.

“BUT it’s days like today, and moments like this that we’ve all gotta have a drink and celebrate how far we have come. I couldn’t be prouder to be gay.”

Madonna, the pioneering pop star who rode to fame partly on the strength of her appeal to gay fans, tweeted that “Finally And at Last! The Revolution Of Love has Begun!”

Not to be outdone, the arts community also weighed in.

Tony-winning actress Audra McDonald, who has been a vocal advocate of same-sex marriage on Twitter, said it’s a moment whose arrival feels at odds with the times.

“It’s a historic day,” she told The Times. “It feels like it happened so quickly and yet so slowly. For the Broadway community, it was always a no-brainer. On Broadway, the LGBTQ community is so visible; we never understood the discrimination of the past.”

Opera singer Patricia Racette, who is gay and married to her longtime partner, noted that even when laws change, resistance and discrimination can persist.

“I loved what our president said that justice grows out of recognition,” she said. “But it’s not the end of the story — as we have seen with other civil wrongs made right, we are well aware of the resistance that is out there.

Times staff writers August Brown, David Ng and Mikael Wood contributed to this report.