Obama Addresses Anti-Gay Discrimination at NAACP Convention; Civil Rights Group to Consider Marriage Equality Stance

At the NAACP Centennial Convention in New York Thursday night, President Obama gave a speech addressing, among other issues, discrimination and prejudice facing minority groups, including LGBT.



Excerpt:

"The first thing we need to do is make real the words of your charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among citizens of the United States. I understand there may be a temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there probably has never been less discrimination in America than there is today. But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights.

On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America."

Read the whole speech.

The NAACP's board of directors met while at the convention to discuss their newly formed GLBT Task Force's mission statement, which would include opposing discrimination toward gays and lesbians who want to get married. This would be a major declaration from the civil right's group who up to this point has remained neutral due to the struggle within its membership to come to a consensus.

Just recently, the NAACP's president Benjamin Todd Jealous, spoke to CNN stating that marriage equality is a divisive issue within the organization, which is the reason that so far they have not taken a stand.

However in March, NAACP chairman Julian Bond gave an amazing speech at HRC's Los Angeles Gala Dinner in which he states he gives full support to LGBT equality, including marriage.

The NAACP will give full consideration to its GLBT Task Force mission statement Thursday.

NAACP National Chairman Julian Bond Speaks at HRC Gala

National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond gave a powerful speech in support of LGBT rights at HRC’s Los Angeles Gala Dinner on Saturday, March 14.



From his speech:

"When someone asks me, “are gay rights civil rights?” my answer is always, “Of course, they are.” Civil rights are positive legal prerogatives: the right to equal treatment before the law. These are the rights shared by everyone. There is no one in the United States who does not, or should not, enjoy or share in enjoying these rights. Gay and lesbian rights are not special rights in any way. It isn’t “special” to be free from discrimination. It is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship. "

"People of color ought to be flattered that our movement has provided so much inspiration for others. That, it has been, that our movement has been so widely imitated. That our tactics, our methods, our heroes, our heroines, and even our songs, have been appropriated or served as models for others."

"Now, no parallel between movements is exact. African-Americans are the only Americans who were enslaved for more than two centuries and people of color carried the badge of who we are on our faces. But we are far from the only people suffering discrimination; sadly, so do many others. And those others deserve the law’s protection and civil rights too…"

"Like race, our sexuality isn’t a preference. It is immutable; it is unchangeable. And the constitution protects us against prejudices and discrimination based on immutable differences."