SAN FRANCISCO – An advocacy group says Anne Hathaway, Martin Sheen and Jane Lynch are among a group of actors, athletes and business leaders urging President Barack Obama to support marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The New York-based group Freedom to Marry said Monday that R&B singer Mya, NFL linebacker Scott Fujita and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also signed an open letter calling on the president to back gay marriage.

Obama has said he supports civil unions as an alternative to marriage for gays and lesbians, and his views on the subject are evolving. His administration announced this month that it would no longer defend the federal law barring government recognition of same-sex unions.

Freedom to Marry says several couples plan to deliver the letter to the White House in the spring.