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Don't come for Susan Sarandon unless she sends for you
Sarandon is noted for her active support of progressive and liberal political causes, ranging from donations to organizations such as EMILY's List,[38] to participating in a 1983 delegation to Nicaragua sponsored by MADRE, an organization that promotes "social, environmental and economic justice."[39] Sarandon has expressed support for various human rights causes that are similar philosophically to ideas found among the Christian left.
In 1995, Sarandon was one of many Hollywood actors, directors and writers interviewed for the documentary The Celluloid Closet, which looked at how Hollywood films have depicted homosexuality. In 1999, she was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In that capacity, she has actively supported the organization's global advocacy, as well as the work of the Canadian UNICEF Committee.[40]
Sarandon and Robbins both took an early stance against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with Sarandon stating that she was firmly against war as a pre-emptive strike.[44] Prior to a 2003 protest sponsored by the United for Peace and Justice coalition, she said that many Americans "do not want to risk their children or the children of Iraq".[45] Sarandon was one of the first to appear in a series of political ads sponsored by TrueMajority, an organization established by Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream founder Ben Cohen.[46][47] In 2003 she appeared in a "Love is Love is Love" commercial, which promoted the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. The next year, in 2004, she served on the advisory committee for 2004 Racism Watch, an activist group.[48] She hosted a section of the Live 8 concert in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2005. In 2006, she was one of eight women selected to carry in the Olympic flag at the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, in Turin, Italy.
Along with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, Sarandon took part in a 2006 Mother's Day protest, which was sponsored by Code Pink;[49] she has expressed interest in portraying Sheehan in a film.[50] In January 2007, she appeared with Robbins and Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. in support of a Congressional measure to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.[51]
Sarandon was appointed an FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 2010. "I am proud to help draw everyone’s attention to the very real and dramatic problems of hunger, food insecurity and extreme poverty," she said.
On March 12, 2011, Sarandon spoke before a crowd in Madison, Wisconsin protesting Governor Scott Walker and his Budget Repair Bill.[56] On September 27, 2011, Sarandon spoke to reporters and interested parties at the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City.[57] Her use of the term "Nazi" to describe Pope Benedict XVI on October 15, 2011, created controversy, generating complaints from Roman Catholic authorities,[58] and the Anti-Defamation League, which called on Sarandon to apologize.[59] Sarandon's mother Leonora Tomalin is a staunch Republican, a supporter of George W. Bush and the Iraq War.[60][61]
As a result of her work in the movie, Dead Man Walking, in which she portrayed Sister Helen Prejean, Sarandon has become an advocate to end the death penalty and mass incarceration. She has joined the team of people fighting to save the life of Richard Glossip, a man who is on death row in Oklahoma.[62] In May 2015, Sarandon launched a campaign with fundraising platform Represent.com to sell T-shirts to help finance the documentary Deep Run, the story of a poor North Carolina teen undergoing a gender transition.[63] In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, she has made public her support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.[64]
Recognition
In 2006, Sarandon received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award.[65] She was honored for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, an advocate for victims of hunger and HIV/AIDS and a spokesperson for Heifer International.
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