NAACP Supports Same-Sex Marriage

Echoing President Barack Obama’s stance, the NAACP sanctioned a resolution that declared same-sex marriage a civil right on Saturday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

RELATED: Breaking: Obama Supports Gay Marriage

During a leadership retreat in Miami, the NAACP’s board voted to support marriage equality in a resolution. NAACP President Ben Jealous remarked that the organization’s support is deeply aligned with this nation’s 14th amendment:

“Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”

While NAACP Board Chairman Roslyn M. Brock explained that endorsing same-sex marriage is a natural extension of their organization’s values:

“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure political, social and economic equality of all people. We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

As expected, gay rights advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign were pleased with the NAACP’s public stance.

“We could not be more pleased with the NAACP’s history-making vote today — which is yet another example of the traction marriage equality continues to gain in every community,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

Time will tell how this pans out in the Black community.

Shortly after President Obama made his  announcement, however, there was major backlash. Sixty percent of more than 1,200 NewsOne readers, for example, took a poll, saying they disagreed with the President’s position.