|| News ||
Page 1 of 1

Marriage Equality Reverend Under Fire


A 50-year-old civil rights organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is seeking to oust the president of its Los Angeles chapter over his support of marriage equality in California, reports The New York Times .

The Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference has threatened to remove the Reverend Eric Lee, who actively worked to prevent the passage of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.

Lee told the Times that his work against Prop. 8 created tension with black clergy, but said he believes that banning same-sex marriage "is a clear violation of civil rights and I have to speak up on that."

In May, Lee received a call and two subsequent letters from the national board of directors of his organization threatening him with suspension or removal. The organization has a publicly neutral stance on the issue.

The local board of directors, who confirmed Lee knowing his stance on marriage equality, stand behind the reverend and his actions.

Lee says he sees failures in the leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; he told the Times , "Dr. King would be turning over in his grave right now."

Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter. Page 1 of 1
Reader Comments
  • Name: Jeffrey
    Date posted: 7/13/2009 11:01:00 AM
    Hometown: Albany

    Comment:

    I am not sure that the vitriole is completely racist in nature. I do think that there is racism in the white gay community but obviously there is homophobia in the black community. I think that it is rage that is misdirected. I agree with a previous writer that said the problem is religion. Fundamentalism is rampant in poor communities both black and white. To me, that is the real monster. Fundamentalism has found fertile ground for its fairy tales and hatred in poor, under educated communites black and white. I am not sure what the answer is but I do think it does not involve "praying" for these assholes. Protest at their churches and in front of their leaders and pastors homes. Disrupt their church services and call out their idiotic belief system. It worked for us in the late 80's and early 90's. Enough with the turn the other cheek bullshit!!!!

  • Name: Lex
    Date posted: 7/13/2009 10:02:00 AM
    Hometown: Chicago

    Comment:

    Its facinating how some gay folks so easily fall back on misguided and racist memes just because some black people do things they don't like. This very article is about one gorup of black Americans standing against another group on LGBT issues. Yet people STILL come in here and talk like black people are of one mind on these issues (and as if there are no black LGBT folks). The NAACP have very publically supported LGBT rights as have people like Al Sharpton, Julian Bondm, John Lewis etc...yet ever time a story like this comes out some one starts talking nonsense about blacks having something against LGBT folks. I suppose the people that do this would have no problem with us saying that all white LGBT folks are racist.

  • Name: Kyle
    Date posted: 7/13/2009 2:22:00 AM
    Hometown: Birmingham

    Comment:

    I think we should respond to this in love, not racist vitriol. There are some misguided people out there, but let's not make it about black versus white. Maybe instead of spewing ignorance, we should work as hard for the rights of African-Americans (still one of the most persecuted groups of people in this country, lest we forget), women, the poor, and every other person in this country that is disenfranchised as we do for our own rights. Instead of spewing the same type of hate we were so willing to condemn after the Prop. 8 vote, we should remember that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." When we do that, when the gay movement has a large presence in all these other civil rights movements, we will get the support we mistakenly seem to feel we deserve.

  • Name: Glenn
    Date posted: 7/13/2009 1:06:00 AM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    Fuck the SCLC. They only want racial equality. They couldn't care less about anyone else, especially gays. So FUCK THEM! The gay community has to stop taking this shit and fight back the only way that counts, money. Not one more penny to their causes until they wake up and realize equality is for all, not just them.

  • Name: Lisa
    Date posted: 7/12/2009 7:54:00 PM
    Hometown: Sacramento

    Comment:

    Didn't Coretta Scott King support gay marriage? Didn't she say that Martin would have opposed all forms of discrimination? Once again the alleged followers are distorting the message. If you're against equality maybe you should speak for yourself and use your name and not use Martin Luther King's.

  • Name: Sara
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 8:10:00 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    PJR, why don't you stop trolling on a gay website. Go back to your mom's basement and get on a Jerry Falwell and/or Pat Buchanan site. It's just like all your posts yesterday. The lesbians still don't want you, so GO AWAY! GET OVER IT!

  • Name: Julian Edward Domain
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 7:21:00 PM
    Hometown: San Diego

    Comment:

    I have a name for PJR, Bayard Rustin.

  • Name: wafuu
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 5:01:00 PM
    Hometown: Japan

    Comment:

    I guess that being murdered because you are black is somehow superior to being murdered because you are gay? Is that how black America sees things? Just asking? Kinda seems that way to me, based on the messages put out be black organizatins such as this.

  • Name: Don Charles
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 2:56:00 PM
    Hometown: Kansas City

    Comment:

    PJR, your real name is Satan! You are the face of false Christianity. Jesus Christ called Gay people "eunuchs from birth" and exempted us from the requirement of heterosexual union. In the ancient world, the word "eunuch" had transgender connotations, and was not yet synonymous with castration. In God's eyes, LGBT folk are blessed: their souls, like His, are neither male nor female. How can commandments directed at people of binary gender be imposed on transgender human beings? We are free from the laws of Leviticus, but so is everyone else who believes in Jesus Christ (see St. Paul's letter to the Galatian churches). You, however, believe in hatred. Stop peddling your evil lies on Gay websites and move along! You belong in Hell; don't waste any more time getting there!

  • Name: Joe Mustich, JP
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 12:46:00 PM
    Hometown: Washington, CT

    Comment:

    Very sad indeed. Joe Mustich, Justice of the Peace, Washington, Connecticut. As MLK said: "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere."

 PREVIOUS 1 2 3 4 NEXT  


More Online Only
  • Commentary What Marriage in Maine Meant for Me

    Dana Hernandez is a straight white married mother of two young children. But in campaigning for No on 1 and reporting Election Night outcomes for Advocate.com, defeat hit her like a ton of bricks.

  • Marriage Equality Video Content Flag Terri White Stages Her Leather Encore

    Last year, acclaimed stage performer Terri White was homeless and living in a public park. On Sunday, she and her partner held a leather-themed commitment ceremony onstage following her triumphant Broadway turn in Finian’s Rainbow. 

  • Music Ghost Story

    Out singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile discusses working with her childhood mentor, coming out publicly, and joining next year's Lilith Fair.

  • News View From Washington: GOP Upheaval

    Now that the only pro-marriage equality candidate in New York's 23rd Congressional district, Republican Dede Scozzafava, has dropped out of the race, Tuesday's election holds any number of political lessons for both the GOP and the LGBT community.

  • Books Hot Sheet: Ditto Knocking 'Em Dead

    This week might not bring anything to the screen other than a Boondock Saints sequel, but there are plenty of reasons to sit at home on the couch or head to your local concert venue.

  • News Features Sailor Speaks Out

    Sailor Joseph Rocha endured years of hazing until he spoke out — then he was discharged for revealing his homosexuality. Nonetheless, the 23-year-old is itching to suit back up.

  • Music Rainbow High

    Busy Broadway heartthrob, gay rights activist, and former Advocate coverboy Cheyenne Jackson chats about his Finian’s Rainbow revival, his politically charged cabaret CD, and laying around in his underpants (pic on page five).

  • Television Another Tough Broad

    After being outed by a Nazi and locking lips with a hook-up three times in one episode, Christine Woods's tough-talking FBI agent Janis Hawk on ABC's FlashForward might just be prime time's best gay offering — who isn't in Glee club, that is.

  • Books Video Content Flag In Sickness and in Health

    Mary Cappello’s memoir Called Back takes readers on a white-knuckle journey through the experience of cancer treatment in America — especially disorienting to navigate as a woman and a lesbian.

  • Books An American Crime

    Best-selling novelist Patricia Cornwell made headlines last week when she filed suit against a New York investment firm for losing $40 million of her money. But she'd much rather talk about her new book, hate-crimes legislation, and Angelina Jolie.

  • Comedy Gilded Lily

    After conquering Broadway, movies, and television, out funny lady Lily Tomlin prepares for the final frontier — Las Vegas.

  • Entertainment News Ricky Martin, No Shirt and a Baby

    Ricky Martin knows how to get the camera's attention. Take a look at the many pictures of Ricky uploaded to his Twitter account in the past three months, always shirtless, frequently carrying one (or both) of his babies.

  • Television Fresh Blood

    With True Blood a bona-fide cultural phenomenon, producer Alan Ball offers tantalizing hints about what to expect on season 3.

Most Popular Stories