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NAACP Endorses Marriage Equality

Bravo. The board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has voted to endorse equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. The resolution approved today by the nation's oldest civil rights organization affirms that "marriage equality [is] consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution."

This marks the first time the national board has fully endorsed marriage equality—and comes ten days after President Barack Obama's historic announcement supporting that position.

The resolution was presented at the civil rights organization's annual retreat in Miami. It was approved by an almost unanimous vote—only 2 members of the 64-member board  opposed. The resolution states:

"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."

"The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people," said NAACP Board Chair Roslyn Brock in a statement. "We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into 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," added President and CEO Benjamin Jealous. "The well-funded right wing organizations who are attempting to split our communities are no friend to civil rights, and they will not succeed."

But this is not the first time the board has spoken out for marriage rights:  In February 2009, the national board called for the overturn of California's Proposition 8 but stopped short of endorsing equal marriage.

In February 2010, the NAACP elected 44-year-old Roslyn Brock as its new chairwoman to replace the legendary Julian Bond, a civil rights icon and one of first Blacks elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Brock joined 37-year-old NAACP President Benjamin Jealous—who has tried to engage LGBT issues— and both have pledged to make the veteran civil rights organization more relevant. In March 2011, the first openly LGBT president of a local NAACP chapter was elected. In August 2011, the organization held its first town hall on LGBT issues.

Bond lead the NAACP until 2010 and has been especially vocal on LGBT issues.  As a result of Bond's leadership, the NAACP now has an LGBT Equality Task Force. Bond also spoke at the 2009 National Equality March and has pushed for marriage equality legislation in Maryland and New Jersey.

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Bmore Sun: Will New NAACP Chair Roslyn Brock Push for Gay Rights?

Last week the NAACP elected 44-year-old Roslyn Brock as its new chairwoman to replace the legendary Julian Bond. Brock's election was described as "a generational shift in leadership" of the nation's oldest civil rights group." Brock joins 37-year-old NAACP President Benjamin Jealous as the "youngest to hold their positions" in the organization's history and both have pledged to make it more relevant to today's black youth. Does that include embracing LGBT issues and gay rights, asks an editorial in the Baltimore Sun.

One way would be to embrace President Barack Obama's call for ending the military's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which forces gay and lesbian soldiers to lie about who they are or face dismissal. The arguments heard today against gays serving openly in the military offer an eerie echo of fears voiced 60 years ago about allowing black soldiers to serve on an equal footing with whites. When President Harry S. Truman signed the executive order integrating the armed forces in 1948, the decision was hailed by the NAACP as a great step forward in the struggle for equal rights. There's no reason the fight for equal treatment of gays and lesbians in the military shouldn't be part of the NAACP's long tradition of working to level the playing field for all oppressed minorities.

Enlarging the NAACP's civil rights mission to include combating discrimination against gay and lesbian service members might bring Ms. Brock and Mr. Jealous in conflict with their base of supporters among African-American churchgoers, many of whom oppose homosexuality on religious grounds. Ironically, the two young leaders could find themselves obliged to undertake the delicate task of reminding rank-and-file members that the Bible was also once used to justify slavery and segregation. They might also point out that many of the gay soldiers discriminated against by the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are black.

More than "many". As we wrote at The Grio, MSNBC's new portal for black news and opinion, blacks are disproportionately affected by DADT. Blacks make up about 29 percent of active duty troops and more than 45 percent of those dismissed under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" 2008.

Under Bond and Jealous, the veteran civil rights organization supported expanding hate crime and employment protection laws to LGBTs. The NAACP now has an LGBT Equality Task Force. And of course the the national board of the NAACP (finally) took a position on marriage equality and called for the overturn of California's Proposition 8. But the organization is still largely controlled by traditional anti-gay black churches and ministers, such as Rev. Keith Ratliff, Iowa's leading black pastor and the anti-gay chair of the Iowa/Nebraska chapter. 

Would it make good sense for the NAACP to throw its weight behind a DADT repeal and other gay rights issues. Absolutely. But will it happen anytime soon?