Mo'Nique, Cory Booker Join Human Rights Campaign To Shore Up Black Support Of Gay Marriage

Kim Kardashian and the food chain Chick-Fil-A caught flak this week from gay Americans -- one for trivializing the institution of marriage, the other for shelling out nearly 2 million dollars to anti-gay groups -- while another group, African-Americans, seemed to be making some headway in support of the LGBT community's efforts for marriage equality.

Although the relationship between gay and African Americans has been complicated at best, the Human Rights Campaign, one of the leading groups promoting same-sex marriage, initiated the Americans For Marriage Equality campaign, calling on notable African Americans, including actress Mo'Nique, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former NAACP chairman Julian Bond to speak out in support of same-sex marriage through video testimonials, which are likely to become TV ads down the road.

"In its infancy the H.R.C. effort ... has showcased three prominent black Americans in a row. That's no accident," New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Bruni said in a column earlier this week.

According to the Times, between 58 and 70 percent of black voters backed the prohibition of California's Proposition 8, which prohibited state recognition of same-sex marriage. In addition to that, the Times reports:

Last April, as the successful push for same-sex marriage in New York picked up speed, a survey of state voters by the Siena College Research Institute found that 62 percent of white voters and 54 percent of Latino voters favored it. Only 46 percent of black voters did.

And in Maryland, which is almost certain to debate same-sex marriage next year, a recent poll by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies depicted a split among the state's residents, with 48 percent in favor and 49 opposed. Among black Marylanders, though, support fell to 41 percent and opposition rose to 59.

African Americans' long-standing resistance to gay marriage has been attributed to religious beliefs, while others have contested that it's a blow to the already struggling black family. Others feel that a greater separation needs to be made between the persecution of gay and black Americans throughout the country's history.

For Cory Booker, the debate is rooted in love, or the lack thereof. "I support marriage equality because I support love," he says in his video testimonial. "And in this nation, we need a lot more of it."

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Comments

[missrightforus]

06:04 AM on 11/09/2011

It is wrong. I support humanity. I am in support of being human. If every one was gay, we would no longer exist. God made us man and woman to procreate. No man and man can produce, no woman and woman can produce. This isnt natural and I will say this until I am gone from this earth. We are bombarded with images and our children sees this. My child has just seen a man and a man kiss....and I wont apologize I am telling him it is wrong. There was a time in Europe when men when men only wanted men and the birth rate drop drastically. I dont agree with this because I am POSITIVE IT GOES AGAINST NATURE. Dont tell me being Afrikan I need to accept this...I dont and wont and neither will my children if it is not forced down their throats.

[fixitmitchit]

09:35 PM on 11/09/2011

Amen

[realityhp]

04:47 AM on 11/04/2011

To the people who try to use religion to deny Gay people the right to marry: Three Points 1. Per the U.S. Constitution, Laws MUST be adopted with a secular and NOT a religious purpose, and we have the freedom of and from religion. In the U.S. we live in a Republic Democracy and NOT a Theocracy . . . 2. You would be screaming from the rooftops in OPPOSITION if Muslim Koran Sharia Law (or another religion different from your own) was imposed upon everyone and YOU were denied Equal Rights if you did NOT abide by Muslim Law, but you think it is OK to impose Christian Bible Laws (which YOU don’t even follow yourself) on everyone to DENY OTHERS Equal Rights if they do NOT abide by Christian Bible Law. You say the Bible is the ‘Holy Word Of God’ and must be followed for verses and interpretations that support your PERSONAL position on a subject, but IGNORE the Bible when passages do not support your positions. . . . 3. Giving other people (ie. races, gender, straights, gays, religions, disabled, etc.) Equal Rights and treatment is an expansion of rights, and does NOT take away anyone’s (including you) rights or stop them from believing WHATEVER they want to believe from a religious standpoint. They just would NOT be able to deny people Equal Rights just because of their opinion or beliefs.

[fixitmitchit]

09:31 AM on 11/04/2011

You must be gay talking like that. Didn't mean to hurt your feeling. The same way you can feel like you do, so can I. I gotta be IGNORANT because I don't agree with kissing the same sex or laying down with the same sex. Take a poll, then you tell me who is Ignorant. Peace be with you.

[fixitmitchit]

02:54 AM on 11/04/2011

Gay marriage is wrong. Gay marriage is against everything in the bible. It is really sad when you have to join hands with the devil to promote yourself. Politicians need gay votes and gay money and so do supposely Hollywood stars. If these two groups of peoples didn't need the votes and money, would they feel that way? Most of your big Hollywierd movers and shakers are gay or wierd. Monique wanna work, she better agree. Cory Booker also.

[pink4004]

08:22 PM on 11/03/2011

Monique looks good. I'm so glad she lost all that weight.

[22Keys]

12:34 PM on 11/03/2011

We of all people should support gay marriage, after all, we were banned from interacial marriage for a long time.

[fixitmitchit]

09:45 AM on 11/04/2011

What do interacial marriage have to do with gay marriage? Those two are worlds apart. Who is we of all people. Speak for yourself.

[22Keys]

11:55 AM on 11/04/2011

Interacial marriage was once seen as perverse. Just as gay marriage is now, especially by many in the church. We need to mature in our thinking about gay marriage, in the same way people had to mature about how they thought about interacial marriage.

[whathappen2america]

11:48 AM on 11/03/2011

So that's why he's single... Monique this is not marriage equality, this is marriage redefined.

I think understanding starts at calling something what it really is...

[myvoyyce]

08:16 AM on 11/03/2011

Like any other race,Blacks have a right to believe as we want to believe on this issue.I am tired of people acting as if Black people "have" to support this issue as opposed to any other group.

[realityhp]

07:25 AM on 11/03/2011

It’s amazing how IGNORANT some of the posts are opposing Gay Marriage. Civil Rights and Equality are about many DIFFERENT Groups (ie. race, gender, sex orientation, seniors, religion, disabled, etc.) and not just Race, and this is NOT about the DEGREE to which ANY group has been discriminated against or mistreated, or COMPARING one atrocity or STRUGGLE / PLIGHT to another (or trying to put them into the same pot). Many groups, ie. Blacks (and other races), Women, Jews, Gays, Religions, Disabled, etc. have HORRIFIC stories to tell about discrimination and Unequal treatment aimed at their groups. The POINT is regardless of the horrific degree of discrimination or atrocity, ALL of these groups should be given respect and Equal Rights.

Whether you like/support a group or not is IRRELVANT: Most people aren't looking for your approval, they just want the same rights as everyone else. You may not like Blacks, Women, Gays, Disabled, Religious people, etc, but ALL of these groups need/deserve Civil Rights, for example, for safeguards they may enjoy or seek without constraint in housing, jobs, public accommodations, equal access to government benefits, Marriage equality, and equal protection of the law, etc. Also, per the U.S. Constitution, Laws MUST be adopted with a secular and NOT a religious purpose, and we have the freedom of and from religion, so one’s religious beliefs shouldn’t prevent consenting adults from straight or gay marriage. In the U.S. we live in a Democracy, NOT a Theocracy.

[Garcia Gomez]

08:50 PM on 11/02/2011

monique betta speak on errythang she can. sista needs exposure and a job

[Virgil Freeman]

08:04 PM on 11/02/2011

She got paid and he always running for a job [office].

[Acediggidy]

07:50 PM on 11/02/2011

I don't know why it is important to the LGBT, that Blacks are supportive of gay marriage, the LGBT, could care less about Black people. I read a post by a white gay male, who said that there is a divide between blacks and whites in the gay community. I wish people would stop thinking that sexual orientation, is some sort of race, its only perversion. I was raised with a gay cousin, who died of AIDS, a girl I dated in back in High School, died of AIDS, after marrying some homo, who was on the downlow. Her husband also, has died of AIDS. 2 of my classmates, who were gay, died of AIDS. Monique is supporting perversion.

[pdxist]

09:05 PM on 11/02/2011

Your hateful soul is a perversion.

[Acediggidy]

09:50 PM on 11/02/2011

Judge not, lest ye be judged.

[Erin Eversole]

09:34 PM on 11/02/2011

So your saying everyone YOU get close to dies of AIDS. Sounds like you might want to get tested.

[Acediggidy]

09:47 PM on 11/02/2011

I am a regular blood donor, I get tested all the time. I certainly didn't say everyone, just my cousin, R.I.P. and the Gay people I knew. If you, like them, are living as wreckless, you might want to get tested.

[Assumed Name]

07:34 PM on 11/02/2011

Cool. :o)

[Vanessa1129]

07:02 PM on 11/02/2011

Mz Parker looks lovely in that grey/silver drezz.
Kudos for the weight loss.

[musoleK]

06:07 PM on 11/02/2011

Makes sense to me. {insert Girder}