Jane Fonda is arrested on the steps of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 11, 2019. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Gay icon Jane Fonda has been arrested in Washington, DC, at a climate-change protest.
The 81-year-old was among 16 people arrested outside the US Capitol building for unlawfully protesting.
She was handcuffed and taken away by police on 11 October.
Fonda, who starred alongside Dolly Parton in the 1980 hit movie 9 to 5, said the day before she was arrested that she admires the children leading the climate-change strikes, including Greta Thunberg.
She told ABC: “(They) have really risked a lot and given up a lot in order to say: ‘Wake up old people. How come you’re not standing with us? You’ve taken our future away’.
“So, you know, grandma’s joining.”
Climate change, Fonda added, is a “collective crisis that demands collective action now”.
#WATCH: 81-year-old actress Jane Fonda is among 16 people that were arrested today while protesting climate change on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building. pic.twitter.com/TRLmqbBNIe
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) October 11, 2019
Fonda has a long history of activism, with many yesterday tweeting pictures of her 1970 mugshot from when she was arrested for protesting the Vietnam war.
Jane Fonda continues to stand up for what she believes in, and repeats history with protesting climate change, 49 years earlier she was arrested in Cleveland for protesting the Vietnam War.
If you’re on the other side of Jane, you’re likely on the wrong side. pic.twitter.com/mVCf8pkSE0— Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) October 11, 2019
The actress also has a long record of supporting gay rights, including giving her full backing to marriage equality in Australia in 2017.
She has previously spoken about being a “beard” for gay actors in Hollywood in the 1960s, when Hollywood was rife with homophobia – including nearly marrying a gay actor who wanted to use her to appear homosexual.
Fonda campaigned alongside and was good friends with Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California who was assassinated in 1978.
“He was the most joyous. He was like Allen Ginsberg. He was always smiling and laughing, and he was beloved and he was funny. The most lovable person,” Fonda said in a 2015 interview.
“I was so happy when I was with him. And it was just so much fun going into those gay bars with him – oh my God!”
Fonda was released hours after being arrested yesterday.
The Academy Award-winner has reportedly moved to Washington so that she can take part in climate strikes on a weekly basis until the end of the year.