Sunday, May 20, 2012

Via JMG: NAACP Endorses Marriage Equality


MAJOR news today. The board of directors of the NAACP has voted to officially endorse same-sex marriage. Reactions from other civil rights groups will be added to the bottom of this post as they arrive.
“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” board chair Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement following passage of the resolution on Saturday. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”The chairman emeritus, Julian Bond, had already pledged his support earlier this week as part of a coalition of black leaders trying to tamp down speculation that Obama’s support of gay marriage would divide the black community.

The resolution and statement Saturday specifically noted that the group supports “civil marriage” for same sex couples, while respecting religious freedom -- something the president also mentioned when announcing his stance. “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said in the statement. “The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”
Here is the text of the resolution:
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.
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
This is truly a historic moment as the NAACP — the nation’s oldest civil rights organization — takes an official and unequivocal stand for marriage equality. As the country’s oldest national LGBT rights group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could not be more thrilled. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the NAACP working together on the many issues that affect all of our lives. Whether it be fair access to education and jobs, an end to voter suppression and racial profiling, the right to love and be who we are free of discrimination — these issues affect all of us, our families and our country. Today the NAACP did what it does so well — inspires and affirms our common humanity.
Freedom To Marry
The NAACP has long been the nation's conscience and champion for an America where all share equally in the promise of liberty and justice for all. Today the NAACP resoundingly affirmed that the freedom to marry is a civil right and family value that belongs to all of us, and that discriminatory barriers to marriage must fall. The toxic tactics of anti-gay groups like NOM to 'drive a wedge between blacks and gays' will be washed away in the wave of righteous affirmation.
Human Rights Campaign
We could not be more pleased with the NAACP’s history-making vote today – which is yet another example of the traction marriage equality continues to gain in every community. It’s time the shameful myth that the African-American community is somehow out of lockstep with the rest of the country on marriage equality is retired - once and for all. The facts and clear momentum toward marriage speak for themselves. NOM has pursued ugly racial politics seeking to divide people, but what is becoming crystal clear is that its strategy is not working. Americans from all walks of life are uniting to support love, commitment, and stronger families.
GLAAD
"For more than 103 years, the NAACP has been a leading advocate and a voice for members of marginalized communities. Today’s announcement represents their continued stance against the discrimination that LGBT families face. We applaud President Ben Jealous and the NAACP Board of Directors for their leadership on this issue," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Across races, faith traditions, and political persuasions, a majority of our culture recognizes that denying gay couples the chance at happiness that comes with being married is unfair and un-American.”
National Black Justice Coalition
“As a Life Member of the NAACP, I am happy to see the organization join the President of the United States in ‘evolving’ and follow the powerful example of civil rights icons and Black voices like Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Julian Bond, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and others who have said committed LGBT couples and families deserve the same protections as everyone else,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “Family is the epicenter of Black life, community and culture. For Black LGBT people, its importance is just as great.”
Marriage Equality USA
"The NAACP has an unbroken history of standing up for civil rights for all Americans, right up through their stand against the discriminatory Amendment 1 in North Carolina, and now today’s historic vote affirming marriage equality for all loving and committed couples,” said Stuart Gaffney, MEUSA Media Director. “Standing together from coast-to-coast with allies such as the NAACP is what is going to make the dream of marriage equality for all loving and committed couples a reality.”

Reposted from Joe

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There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.

Look within. Be still.

Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.


from the Dhammapada, Words of the Buddha

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    Is there a third way to resolve the debate over how the church should treat homosexuals?
     
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    Is there a third way to resolve the debate over how the church should treat homosexuals?

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 20, 2012

A New Way of Observation

It is because our way of observing things is deeply rooted in our self-centered ideas that we are disappointed when we find everything has only a tentative existence. But when we actually realize this truth, we will have no suffering.
- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, "The Heart Sutra: Translations and Commentary"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via America Blog Gay:

NAACP comes out in favor of marriage equality

This is a big, and long-awaited, deal. Today, the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People endorsed the rights of same-sex couples to marry, stating in a resolution that the national civil-rights organization "support[s] marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States...

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May we touch the hearts of others today.

* Namaste *
‎"Be content
with what you have,
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize
there is nothing lacking,
the whole world
belongs to you."

~Lao Tzu

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