Aaron Pike is an activist who has appeared in numerous national publications speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

. He is a 2003 graduate of Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

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Activism

On May 21, 2004, Aaron Pike Shainwald married his long-time boyfriend. The wedding and the events leading up to the wedding were the focus of MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's True Life

True Life

True Life is a documentary series running on MTV since 1998. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode, "Fatal Dose." The show is created by following a series of subjects by a camera crew through a certain part of their lives.-Topics covered:True...

: I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married

I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married

"I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married" is the first episode from the fifth season of the MTV series True Life features two gay couples as they apply for marriage licenses and get married in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It originally aired on June 24, 2004...

, which aired throughout the 2004 season on the MTV networks around the globe.

Aaron was interviewed in The Advocate

The Advocate

The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...

, TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

, Boston Globe, The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Metro, Boston Herald

Boston Herald

The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...

s Inside Track, and in several other national and international media outlets. The show aired several times throughout the 2004 MTV season and now currently plays on Logo

Logo (TV channel)

Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...

, MTV's sister channel.

The documentary won the 2005 GLAAD Outstanding Documentary Media award at the 16th GLAAD Media Awards and was accepted by the couple in March 2005 in New York City's Marriott Marquee, Times Square.

In September 2006, Aaron and his husband, Stephen, filed for divorce for irreconcilable differences and the divorce proceedings were finalized on January 18, 2007.

Aaron Pike is also featured in Wendy Diamond

Wendy Diamond

Wendy Diamond is an entrepreneur and animal rescue advocate author of two cookbooks, founder and editor of Animal Fair magazine, and frequent media personality. Wendy is often seen with her dog Lucky Diamond, a Maltese adopted in 1999...

’s 2007 documentary In search of Puppy Love, which premiered at the Boston Film Festival

Boston Film Festival

Boston Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It has been held annually since 1984, usually in early September....

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In April 2008, Aaron Pike was interviewed for the New York Times Magazine cover story “Young Gay Rites”, by Benoit Denizet-Lewis

Benoit Denizet-Lewis

Benoit Denizet-Lewis is a narrative journalist and non-fiction writer living in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. He is a writer with the New York Times Magazine, where he often writes about outcasts and those living on the fringes of American culture. He is the author of two books published by Simon &...

. Aaron was interviewed about his feeling on equal marriage rights and was featured in a full page photograph by Erwin Olaf

Erwin Olaf

Erwin Olaf is a Dutch photographer.Olaf is most famous for his commercial and personal work. He has been commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for large international companies such as Levi's, Microsoft and Nokia. Some of his most famous photographic series include "Grief", "Rain", and...

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