When President Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage two weeks ago, many others came up to support and applaud his decision. Now the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been the latest to jump on board for equal marriage rights for all as the civil rights organization voted on endorsing gay marriage over the weekend.
"The NAACP Board of Directors has just endorsed marriage equality unequivocally. Only two opposed! An historic moment," wrote Maxim Thorne, former NAACP senior vice president, via Twitter on Saturday.
The 64-member board announced their full statement in a resolution that cites the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause:
"The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the 'political, education, social and economic equality' of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment."
Since the prominent civil rights group's decision, organizations like the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Freedom to Marry have praised the move and hope this will bring down the barriers that not only create discrimination against homosexuals but divisions between gays and Blacks as well.
"Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law," said NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous. "The NAACP's support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people. The well-funded right wing organizations who are attempting to split our communities are no friend to civil rights, and they will not succeed."
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