With the 2012 session of the Maryland General Assembly now under way, African-Americans in Maryland will soon play a pivotal role in the effort to advance equality for gays and lesbians as the legislature considers granting marriage rights to thousands of families and couples in the state.
In Maryland, gays and lesbians are engaging in a fight for their civil rights -- for marriage equality. And we must not let rhetoric that seeks to appropriate our experience blind us to a simple fact: that while the journeys of our two communities may be different, our ultimate goals are the same.
Marriage equality is not only a matter of civil rights; it's one of human rights and basic dignity. To deny familial and spousal benefits to millions of gay and lesbian Americans -- benefits that are taken as a given for straight Americans -- is to undermine the basic family unit that we in the black community have worked so hard to preserve and advance.
Wade Henderson is president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. His
piece is a great read.
1 comment:
Heartfelt and logical - a potent combination and tough for someone to refute in my opinion. We need more leaders in the African American community who are not afraid to speak out like this and to remind everyone that regardless of skin color - we are all the same and we all want the same things life has to offer; chief among them are the pursuit of happiness.
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