A
newly
formed
coalition
of
African-American
gay
leaders
announced
plans
this
week
for
a
$100,000
media
campaign
to
promote
support
in
the
black
community
for
same-sex
marriage
and
to
fight
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
such
marriages.
At
a
Dec.
8
news
conference
in
Washington,
D.C.,
members
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition
said
their
goal,
among
other
things,
is
to
refute
claims
by
anti-gay
groups
that
the
majority
of
African
Americans
oppose
same-sex
marriage.
“Do
not
be
fooled
by
a
few
recent
poll
numbers
into
thinking
that
marriage
will
divide
the
black
community
in
the
upcoming
election
year,”
said
Keith
Boykin,
a
White
House
aide
during
the
Clinton
administration
and
co-founder
of
the
coalition.
“We
are
here
to
correct
the
record
in
the
media
and
to
tell
the
public
that
marriage
is
not
a
wedge
issue
for
African
Americans.”
Boykin
said
the
coalition’s
media
campaign
calls
for
raising
and
spending
$100,000
for
advertisements
targeting
the
African-American
media
and
to
develop
a
Web
site
to
“counter
right-wing
misinformation
about
blacks
and
marriage
equality.”
He
said
the
coalition
would
hold
future
news
conferences
to
announce
new
supporters
of
the
campaign,
including
prominent
African-American
politicians,
civil
rights
leaders
and
entertainers.
“By
the
beginning
of
the
New
Year,
we
will
launch
the
first-ever
Web
site
to
counter
right-wing
misinformation
about
blacks
and
marriage
equality,”
Boykin
said.
“And
soon
after
the
New
Year,
we
will
be
holding
new
events
to
announce
new
supporters
of
our
campaign.”
Among
those
who
have
already
endorsed
the
coalition’s
efforts
and
who
pledged
support
for
same-sex
marriage,
according
to
literature
released
by
the
coalition,
are
Coretta
Scott
King,
widow
of
the
slain
civil
rights
leader
Martin
Luther
King
Jr.;
comedian
and
actress
Whoopi
Goldberg;
Democratic
presidential
candidates
Carol
Moseley
Braun
and
the
Rev.
Al
Sharpton;
U.S.
Rep.
John
Lewis
(D-Ga.);
and
San
Francisco
Mayor
Willie
Brown.
The
coalition
will
urge
all
major
national
African-American
political
and
civil
rights
leaders
along
with
African-American
religious
leaders
to
support
the
campaign,
Boykin
and
other
coalition
members
said.
They
said
the
coalition
would
also
urge
these
same
leaders
and
groups
to
take
a
strong
stand
 |
| Donna
Payne,
senior
constituency
field
organizer
for
HRC,
said
conservatives
are
trying
to
use
the
gay
marriage
issue
to
divide
the
black
vote
in
the
2004
elections.
(Photo
by
Michael
Wise) |
against
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
the
proposed
constitutional
amendment
seeking
to
ban
same-sex
marriage
that
lawmakers
have
introduced
into
the
Senate
and
House
of
Representatives.
“The
right-wing
fired
the
first
shots
in
this
battle,
but
today
we
fire
back,”
said
coalition
member
Donna
Payne,
senior
constituency
field
organizer
for
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
political
group.
“Make
no
mistake
about
it,”
Payne
said,
“the
proposed
constitutional
amendment
is
being
used
by
the
white
religious
right
in
an
attempt
to
scare
the
African-American
community
into
voting
for
their
ultra-conservative
agenda.
“We
will
not
allow
the
out-of-touch
radical
right
to
divide
the
black
community
on
this
issue.”
In
addition
to
Boykin
and
Payne,
coalition
members
speaking
at
the
news
conference,
which
was
held
at
the
National
Press
Club
in
downtown
D.C.,
included
the
Rev.
Michaele
Moore,
pastor
of
God’s
Living
Spirit
Church
in
D.C.;
Mandy
Carter,
gay
civil
rights
activist
and
national
steering
committee
member
of
Freedom
to
Marry,
a
group
coordinating
efforts
to
legalize
same-sex
marriage;
and
Maurice
Franklin,
former
executive
staff
member
of
the
Southern
Christian
Leadership
Conference.
Kenneth
Reeves,
the
former
mayor
and
current
member
of
the
Cambridge,
Mass.,
City
Council,
was
scheduled
to
attend
the
press
conference
but
was
held
over
in
Boston
due
to
a
snowstorm.
Reeves,
an
attorney,
submitted
a
written
statement
pledging
his
support
for
the
coalition’s
efforts
on
behalf
of
same-sex
marriage.
“Contrary
to
popular
belief,
black
elected
officials
are
not
all
homophobic,”
Reeves
said
in
his
statement.
“In
fact,
the
Congressional
Black
Caucus
has
been
one
of
the
most
supportive
demographic
groups
on
gay
issues
of
any
group
in
the
United
States
Congress.
Now
I
invite
and
encourage
the
caucus
members
and
other
black
elected
officials
to
speak
out
against
the
proposed
Federal
Marriage
Amendment.”
