Political activism[edit]
Martin Sheen at an anti-war protest in October 2007
In 2010, Sheen first spoke to 18,000 young student activists at
Free The Children's
We Day, explaining "While acting is what I do for a living, activism is what I do to stay alive."
[28]
Although he did not attend college, Sheen credited the
Marianists at
University of Dayton as a major influence on his public activism, as well as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
[29] Sheen is known for his outspoken support of
liberal political causes, such as opposition to United States military actions and a hazardous-waste incinerator in
East Liverpool, Ohio. Sheen has resisted calls to run for office, saying: "There's no way that I could be the president. You can't have a
pacifist in the
White House . . . I'm an actor. This is what I do for a living."
[30] Sheen is an honorary
trustee of the
Dayton International Peace Museum.
He supported the 1965
farm worker movement with
Cesar Chavez in
Delano, California.
[31] He is a proponent of the
Consistent life ethic, which advocates against
abortion,
capital punishment and war.
[32] He articulated this view further in an interview with The Progressive: "I'm inclined to be against abortion of any life. But I am equally against the death penalty or war."
[33] He also supports the
Democrats for Life of America's
Pregnant Women Support Act.
[34] In 2004 along with
Rob Reiner, Sheen campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate
Howard Dean, and later campaigned for nominee
John Kerry.
On May 16, 1995, Martin Sheen and
Paul Watson from the non-profit environmental organization
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, were confronted by a number of Canadian sealers in a hotel on
Magdalen Islands over Sea Shepherd's history of attacks on sealing and whaling ships. Sheen negotiated with the sealers while Watson was escorted to the airport by police.
[35] In 2000, Sheen got involved in support of
gun control after the
National Shooting Sports Foundation hired his politically conservative brother, actor
Joe Estevez who sounds like Sheen, to do a
voice over for a pro-gunmaker commercial earlier in the year.
[36][37] In early 2003 Sheen signed the "Not in My Name" declaration opposing the invasion of Iraq (along with prominent figures such as
Noam Chomsky and
Susan Sarandon); the declaration appeared in the
magazine The Nation. On August 28, 2005, he visited anti-
Iraq War activist
Cindy Sheehan at
Camp Casey. He prayed with her and spoke to her supporters. He began his remarks by stating, "At least you've got the acting president of the United States," referring to his role as fictional president
Josiah Bartlet on
The West Wing.[38] Cindy Sheehan had been demanding a second meeting
[39] with the President,
George W. Bush.
Sheen endorsed marches and walkouts called by the civil rights group
By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) to force the state of California to honor the Cesar Chavez holiday. On the day of the protests (March 30), thousands of students, primarily Latino from California and elsewhere, walked out of school in support of the demand. Sheen also stated that he participated in the large-scale immigration marches in Los Angeles in 2006 and 2007.
[40][41][citation needed]
On April 10, 2006, the
New York Times reported that members of the
Democratic Party in
Ohio had contacted Sheen, attempting to persuade him to run for the
United States Senate in Ohio. Sheen declined the offer, stating, "I'm just not qualified. You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."
[42] On November 26, 2006, the Sunday Times in the
Republic of Ireland, where Sheen was then living as a result of his enrolment in
NUI Galway, reported on his speaking out against mushroom farmers exploiting foreign workers by paying them as little as €2.50 an hour in a country where the
minimum wage was €7.65.
Sheen's latest activism includes attendances at meetings of the environmentalist group
Earth First![43] and speaking appearances at youth empowerment events called
We Day on behalf of
Free The Children, an international charity and educational partner.
[44] Sheen has been named an ambassador of Free The Children and has supported such initiatives as the We are Silent campaign, a 24-hour pledge of silence.
[45] Speaking about his work with Free The Children, Sheen has said, "I'm hooked! I told them whenever I could offer some insight or energy or whatever I had, I'd be delighted if they would call on me, and they have."
[46]
Sheen has also endorsed and supported Help Darfur Now, a student-run organization to help aid victims of the genocide in
Darfur, the western region in
Sudan. He also appears in the recent anti-fur documentary "Skin Trade."
[47]
Sheen has appeared in television and radio ads urging Washington State residents to vote 'no' on
Initiative 1000, a proposed
assisted suicide law before voters in the 2008 election.
[48]
Sheen initially endorsed
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in the
2008 U.S. Presidential Election, and helped raise funds for his campaign.
[49] After Richardson dropped out of the campaign, Sheen stated in a
BBC Two interview with
Graham Norton that he was supporting
Barack Obama.
[42]
In March 2012, Sheen was featured with
George Clooney in a performance of
Dustin Lance Black's play,
'8'—a staged reenactment of the
federal trial that overturned California's
Prop 8 ban on
same-sex marriage—as attorney
Theodore Olson.
[50] The production was held at the
Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the
American Foundation for Equal Rights.
[51][52]
In September 2012, Sheen reunited with the cast of
The West Wing to produce a video tasked with explaining Michigan's ballot and its partisan and nonpartisan sections. The video doubled as a campaign ad for
Bridget McCormack, who was running as a nonpartisan candidate for
Michigan's Supreme Court.
[53]