Read the NAACP news release: 'NAACP passes resolution in support of marriage equality'

News release from the NAACP:

Decision Affirms Opposition to Government Efforts to Codify Discrimination

(Miami, Florida) The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People today released a resolution supporting marriage equality. At a meeting of the 103-year old civil rights group’s board of directors, the organization voted to support marriage equality as a continuation of its historic commitment to equal protection under the law.

“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAACP. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

“Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. 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” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP.

The NAACP has addressed civil rights with regard to marriage since Loving v. Virginia declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional in 1967. In recent years the NAACP has taken public positions against state and federal efforts to ban the rights and privileges for LGBT citizens, including strong opposition to Proposition 8 in California, the Defense of Marriage Act, and most recently, North Carolina’s Amendment 1, which changed the state constitution’s to prohibit same sex marriage.

Below is the text of the resolution passed by the NAACP board of directors:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, educational, 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 groups laud NAACP for national board decision in Miami to support marriage equality

Several national groups have lauded the NAACP for its board decision in Miami Saturday to support gay marriage as a civil right:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

WASHINGTON, May 19 — The board of directors of the NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, today voted to endorse marriage equality. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the NAACP have worked together on issues related to racial and economic justice, LGBT rights and marriage equality, among others. NAACP leaders Julian Bond and Ben Jealous have each also spoken at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, the largest convening of pro-LGBT rights supporters in the country.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director
National Gay and 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 also not surprised by the leadership exhibited once again by the NAACP. Just a few months ago, NAACP President Ben Jealous stood before 3,000 LGBT rights activists at our Creating Change Conference and spoke powerfully and poignantly about the ties of conscience and courage that bind us. ‘The NAACP and the LGBT movement have fought together for social justice since Bayard Rustin planned the March on Washington in 1963,' he told the crowd. ‘He was a black gay hero who wrote the textbook on mobilizing the masses for jobs and freedom.’ 

“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.”

HRC, Human Rights Campaign:

WASHINGTON – On the heels of President Obama’s historic support for marriage equality and subsequent polling on the issue among African-Americans, the NAACP Board of Directors today endorsed marriage equality.

“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,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.  “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.”

Half of African-Americans, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted earlier this month, back marriage equality.  The Journal reported, “Almost every demographic slice was more in favor of gay marriage than it had been in 2009.”   

Following President Obama’s historic endorsement of the issue also this month, attitudes within the African-American community become even more positive.  A Washington Post poll showed that 54 percent of African Americans backed the President’s statement. A Public Policy Poll also taken after the President’s announcement reflected an 11-point increase among African Americans in North Carolina who support either marriage or civil unions for committed gay and lesbian couples.

Months ago, HRC unearthed secret internal memos by the so-called National Organization for Marriage which admitted in stark terms its racial strategy. One memo to its Board of Directors stated NOM would drive a “wedge between gays and blacks.”

“NOM has pursued ugly racial politics seeking to divide people, but what is becoming crystal clear is that its strategy is not working,” said Solmonese. “Americans from all walks of life are uniting to support love, commitment, and stronger families.”

Freedom to Marry:

NEW YORK -- Today the Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) endorsed same-sex couples' freedom to marry, stating that it was "consistent with equal protection."  Below is a statement from Freedom to Marry's founder and President Evan Wolfson:

"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."

Center for American Progress:

Today the NAACP, an organization that has long been against efforts to discriminate against the LGBT community, endorsed marriage equality. Aisha Moodie-Mills, Advisor to the Center for American Progress on LGBT Policy and Racial Justice issued the following statement:

The NAACP has long been a staunch defender of justice for all people and their resolution today is a continuation of that legacy. Marriage equality is the defining civil rights issue of our time, and I applaud the NAACP for their vote today, and for their past opposition to efforts to codify discrimination against gay and transgender Americans into the law.

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.”

NAACP backs same-sex marriage as civil right during national board meeting in Miami

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI -- The NAACP passed a resolution Saturday endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil right and opposing any efforts "to codify discrimination or hatred into the law."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's board voted at a leadership retreat in Miami to back a resolution supporting marriage equality, calling the position consistent with the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution.

"The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure political, social and economic equality of all people," Board Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement. "We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law."

Same-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia, but 31 states have passed amendments to ban it.

"Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. 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" said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, a strong backer of gay rights.

Gay marriage has divided the black community, with many religious leaders opposing it. In California, exit polls showed about 70 percent of blacks opposed same-sex marriage in 2008. In Maryland, black religious leaders helped derail a gay marriage bill last year. But state lawmakers passed a gay marriage bill this year.

Pew Research Center polls have found that African Americans have become more supportive of same-sex marriage in recent years, but remain less supportive than other groups. A poll conducted in April showed 39 percent of African-Americans favor gay marriage, compared with 47 percent of whites. The poll showed 49 percent of blacks and 43 percent of whites are opposed.

The Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights advocacy group, applauded the step by the Baltimore-based civil rights organization.

"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," HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

Psychiatrist who supported 'cure' for gays and lesbians now apologizes to LGBT community

"I owe the gay community an apology," writes Dr. Robert Spitzer, according to a New York Times report published Saturday, in which the psychiatrist, now nearly 80 and suffering from Parkinson's disease, repudiates his 2003 theory that gay people can be "cured" through reparative therapy.

Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, a group that tracks the ex-gay movement, first reported Spitzer's turnaround in April.

Besen, who appears in the New York Times article reports on Saturday:

"This was a very intelligent article that puts the entire Spitzer study into its proper perspective. It is a telling and compelling narrative that places a definitive period at the end of a long, and often troubling, run-on sentence. For his part, Dr. Spitzer should be applauded for doing the right thing. It is never easy, particularly for successful people who are leaders in their field, to apologize or acknowledge wrongdoing. But, this is exactly what Dr. Spitzer did and we at Truth Wins Out are grateful that he is a man of integrity and conscience.

"Unfortunately, there are still slippery organizations, like Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), who refuse to take Dr. Spitzer’s repudiated study off of their website. The good news is that by leaving it up they further erode their already tattered credibility and reputation by showing how blatantly dishonest they truly are."

Click here to read The New York Times article.

Malawi's president vows to repeal gay ban

BY RAPHAEL TENTHANI AND DONNA BRYSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BLANTYRE, Malawi -- President Joyce Banda declared Friday she wants to repeal Malawi's laws against homosexual acts, going against a trend in Africa in which gays are being increasingly singled out for prosecution.

Banda, who assumed the presidency in April when her predecessor died, made the announcement in her first state of the nation address.

"Indecency and unnatural acts laws shall be repealed," she said. But repealing a law requires a parliamentary vote, and it is unclear how much political support Banda would have for sweeping changes in this impoverished and conservative nation in southern Africa.

Malawi had faced international condemnation for the conviction and 14-year prison sentences given in 2010 to two men who were arrested after celebrating their engagement and were charged with unnatural acts and gross indecency.

Then President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned the couple on "humanitarian grounds only" while insisting they had "committed a crime against our culture, against our religion, and against our laws."

Mutharika died in office in April. Banda, who was vice president, stepped in to serve out his term which ends in 2014.

Click here to read the complete article.

Gay marriage spawns big spike in online videos

BY BETH FOUHY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama's May 9 announcement that he favors same sex marriage led to a huge spike on YouTube, according to data assembled by the popular video sharing site.

Obama's endorsement of same-sex nuptials resulted in a record number of searches and a rush of users uploading videos on the subject. Gay marriage was also the most popular topic on YouTube's news and politics category this week.

YouTube is owned by the online search giant Google, which saw a 458 percent increase in national searches for "Obama" and "gay marriage" between 10 am and 6pm the day Obama disclosed his views in an interview with ABC News.

Gay rights issues have a history of sparking online viral videos. University of Iowa student Zach Wahls' plea for Iowa lawmakers to allow marriage rights for his lesbian parents was YouTube's most-watched political video of 2011. It was followed closely by "Strong," an ad from Rick Perry's now abandoned campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, in which the Texas governor laments that "gays can serve openly in the military." The commercial sparked numerous parodies and drew more than 760,000 "dislikes" on YouTube.

Matthew Nisbit, a professor of communications at American University who studies the intersection of politics and social media, said online videos and an interest in gay rights were a natural pairing.

"The heaviest users of video are people under the age of 25, and gay rights is one of the few political issues young people feel passionate about," Nisbit said. "And the gay community was an early adopter of social networking - the technology was a good fit for people of minority status looking for like-minded others."

Following Obama's announcement, more videos with the key words "gay marriage" were uploaded on YouTube than ever before, drawing more than 3 million views and 100,000 comments.