It was an emotional announcement as Ben Jealous, the current President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP, stood in front of a Baltimore church and affirmed the national organization’s endorsement of marriage equality for same-sex couples.
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For the first time in their history, the NAACP has taken a national stand on the issue. Jealous made the announcement and insisted, “This is an important day.”
To those who invoke religious values when opposing marriage equality, Jealous responded:
“Our calling as an organization is to defend the U.S. constitution. We are to speak on matters of civil law and civil rights.”
Jealous became emotional as he reflected on his own parents not being able to get married and how they had to go to the Capitol:
“My parents own marriage was against the law at the time and they had to return here to Baltimore after getting married in Washington D.C.”
It was an amazing moment as one of America’s oldest civil rights organizations stood firm and recognized that marriage equality truly is a civil rights issue.
