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Julian Bond Supports Gay Marriage Daily World from the Web, February 19, 2004 Atlanta, GA Feb.12 -- The National Black Justice Coalition has announced that civil rights leader Julian Bond has joined Coretta Scott King, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, John Lewis, Henry Louis Gates and other African American leaders who publicly support marriage equality. "I see this as a civil rights issue," said Julian Bond. "That means I support gay civil marriage." Bond, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was speaking in his personal capacity and not for the NAACP. "We are very pleased that Julian Bond has spoken out affirmatively on this issue," said Keith Boykin, president of the board of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). "His statement helps to clarify two important points. First, marriage is a basic human right, and second, outlawing discrimination in civil marriage does not change the rules for religious marriage." The National Black Justice Coalition has been in dialogue with Bond and other civil rights leaders for several months, according to Maurice Franklin, a member of the Coalition's board of directors and the chair of its civil rights committee. "We hope Julian Bond's statement will help to encourage other African American leaders to come out against marriage discrimination," Franklin said. The National Black Justice Coalition is an ad hoc coalition of black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered leaders who have come together to fight against discrimination in their communities. The goal of the organization in 2004 is to build black support for marriage equality and to educate African Americans on the dangers of the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate in marriage.
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