NAACP Joins LGBT Allies, Fight to "Invalidate" Prop 8

TNG Contributor Ed submitted this post.

A consistent theme of my TNG columns has been coalition building, to which one TNG reader asked why white LGBT people should be expected to make the first move, especially in the aftermath of Prop 8. I've also written about supporting our allies, and a TNG reader replied, "Like they supported us on Prop 8." Well, hopefully this article published on the Advocate's website will be seen as an act of good faith and another step toward building productive, winning alliances. The Advocate reports that the NAACP has called on the California supreme court to "invalidate" Prop 8. The organization also wants the State legislature "to go on record against Prop 8," and "The California state conference of the NAACP has already filed briefs with the California supreme court in the legal challenge against the ballot initiative, which squeaked by with 52% of the vote. California's state court will begin hearing oral arguments to Prop. 8 on March 5."

Statements from NAACP Chairman and Civil Rights pioneer, Julian Bond and CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous after the fold.

NAACP CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous, wrote in a letter to the State legislature:

"The NAACP's mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law. Our mission statement calls for the 'quality 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."

NAACP chairman, Julian Bond, said in a press release:

"The NAACP has long opposed any proposal that would alter the federal or state constitutions for the purpose of excluding any groups or individuals from guarantees of equal protections. We urge the legislature to declare that Proposition 8 did not follow the proper protective process and should be overturned as an invalid alteration that vitiated crucial constitutional safeguards and fundamental American values, threatening civil rights and all vulnerable minorities."