CLOONEY: GAY RIGHTS FINAL LEG OF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Oscar winner George Clooney has described the issue of gay and lesbian rights as “the final leg of the civil rights movement”.

Clooney, who has been a long-time supporter of the LGBT community, made the comment at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Thursday.

“I think the world is changing and it’s becoming less and less of an issue and I think it shouldn’t be long now. I think younger people are looking at this like, ‘Who cares?’,” he said.

“I do believe it’s generational, much like the civil rights movement. Young people started taking to the streets and things changed. This really is the final leg of the civil rights movement.”

The 50-year-old actor and director has previously expressed his backing for same-sex marriage rights, stating that “It is astonishing that gay and lesbian Americans are still treated as second-class citizens”.

In March, Clooney will appear in a one night star-studded charity performance of the play 8 in Los Angeles. The production is about the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage in California.