February 23, 2009
Equality California and National Black Justice Coalition Applaud NAACP
NAACP Endorses California Legislature's Call to Overturn Prop 8
San Francisco and Washington, DC -- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today endorsed measures before the California legislature supporting the court challenge to Proposition 8, which altered the California Constitution to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry and equal protection under the law.
In response to this news, Equality California (EQCA) Executive Director Geoff Kors and National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) Executive Director H. Alexander Robinson issued the following statements applauding the NAACP.
"If Prop. 8 is allowed to stand, then all minority groups will be at risk," said Kors. "The NAACP has a long and proud history of fighting discrimination and we thank them for not only recognizing the threat of Prop. 8 but using their strong voice in the effort to overturn this unprecedented change to our Constitution."
Robinson commented, "It is heartening to know that the oldest civil rights organization in the nation continues to lead by example, standing up for the constitution and the fundamental rights of all Americans. We hope the California Supreme Court will likewise find that the California constitution does not leave fundamental rights up to majority rule."
In a letter to legislative leaders today, NAACP national board chair Julian Bond and President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous urged passage of House Resolution 5 and Senate Resolution 7 to put the legislature on record calling for invalidation of Prop. 8 as an improper and dangerous alteration of the California Constitution.
"The NAACP's mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law," President Jealous said in an earlier press release. "Our Mission Statement calls for the 'equality of rights of all persons.' Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California State Supreme Court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop. 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California Constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts - assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority."
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