Lea Michele, Mark Ruffalo, & More Fight The Gender Wage Gap on Equal Pay Day

Celebrities including Lea Michele and Elizabeth Banks used Equal Pay Day on Tuesday (12Apr16) to call for closure of the gender wage gap.
Wage inequality has been a hot topic for Hollywood stars in recent years, and they marked Equal Pay Day by highlighting the earning disparity on social media as well as informing fans how they can take action to help close the gap.
The average woman still makes less than what a man earns. Let’s work together to end the wage gap #EqualPayDay https://t.co/guP7QGZUn4
— Lea Michele (@msleamichele) April 12, 2016
Glee actress Lea wrote on Twitter, “The average woman still makes less than what a man earns. Let’s work together to end the wage gap #EqualPayDay” while Elizabeth shared a link to U.S. President Barack Obama‘s online petition called Stand For Equal Pay. She added, “Today’s date = how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned last year. Take a stand on #EqualPayDay.”
Today’s date= how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned last year. Take a stand on #EqualPayDay: https://t.co/hiJJ2NIBUZ
— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) April 12, 2016
Avengers star Mark Ruffalo also urged his fans to visit Obama’s pledge, and tweeted, “There needs to be more than just #EqualPayDay. Let’s take a stand to stop the wage gap,” while Reese Witherspoon shared an article concerning facts about the wage gap.
#EqualPayDay https://t.co/WlHLE5RZZ3
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) April 12, 2016
There needs to be more than just #EqualPayDay. Let’s take a stand to stop the wage gap: https://t.co/Qsq5ZnMI7q @BarackObama
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) April 12, 2016
Sharon Stone wrote “#EqualPayDay #moneytalksinequalityblocks. #EqualPay now” alongside a poster which reads, “Women who work full-time still earn just $0.79 for every $1 men earn… It’s time to change that.” She also shared Obama’s petition and a video of Obama pledging to close the gap in a speech on Tuesday.
#EqualPayDay #moneytalksinequalityblocks. #EqualPay now. #SharonStone pic.twitter.com/q6u5iyBpCb
— Sharon Stone (@sharonstone) April 12, 2016
Patricia Arquette, who spoke about wage inequality during her acceptance speech the 2015 Oscars, appeared on TV to discuss the issue, telling MSNBC that America has “reached a breaking point”.
Check out the new report from US congress on gender pay inequality- https://t.co/JCEazNAhBm
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) April 11, 2016
“We see this pay discrepancy between women and men in 98 per cent of all industries. (It) costs the average woman almost a half million dollars over her lifetime… and with women with higher education, it costs them $2 million over their lifetime,” she explained.
The actress told WENN in February (16) that her impassioned speech while accepting her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Boyhood cost her movie roles.