Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
has described gay marriage as a civil right.
When CNN host Anderson Cooper asked,
“You see the push for equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans as
an extension of the civil rights movement?” Bond, a strong
supporter of gay marriage, answered: “Very much so.”
“Of course. It is exactly the same.
It's a right that all Americans have and no reason why gay and
lesbian people ought not have these rights, too. These are universal
rights,” Bond said.
To African-Americans who say they are
offended by the comparison, Bond said: “We ought to be happy that
other people, including gays and lesbians, and many other people have
imitated the Black movement for human rights. … And when others
imitate what we did to gain their rights we ought to be first in line
to say, 'Can I help you? You helped me, can I help you?'”
Bond added that many gay people were
involved in the Civil Rights movement. (The video is embedded in the
right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)