The Southern Christian Leadership Council, the 1957 civil rights organization co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., is attempting to remove the current president of its Los Angeles chapter for supporting gay marriage. The Rev. Eric P. Lee told the NYT that his campaigning against Prop 8
“created tension in my life I had never experienced with black clergy. But it was clear to me that any time you deny one group of
people the same right that other groups have that is a clear violation
of civil rights and I have to speak up on that.”
He also said, of the national organization's opposition to gay marriage, “Dr. King would be turning over in his grave right now.”
Rev. Lee criticized gay leaders against Prop 8 for not reaching out to the black community. In fact, he may be giving them too much credit in saying, “The failure of the campaign was to presume that African-Americans would see this as a civil rights issue.”
Comments