CAAP disagrees with NAACP over same sex marriage

By Frances Kelly

The Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP) protested the NAACP's endorsement of anti-gender marriage at its annual conference in Houston.

Huffington Post:

An organization of black clergy members traveled to the NAACP's annual convention in Houston to protest the civil rights group's recent decision to endorse same-sex marriage.

The Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP), headed by Rev. William Owens of Memphis, Tenn., said that the NAACP had abandoned its core mission by supporting same-sex marriage.

"This is supposed to be an organization for black people who were beaten, who were mistreated and who were enslaved," Owens told The Huffington Post. "You're advocating for something that's not normal, that's not natural. It's still out of line, it's against moral law."

"Gay marriage is leading us down a bad path," Owens added. "Our young people are already hurt. They're already damaged."

Owens said that the NAACP should focus on issues like unemployment and education, and added that CAAP's online petitions support of "traditional marriage" had garnered at least 5,000 signatures since the group held an initial press conference about its effort last week. He said that he doubted the civil rights group's membership would have backed the resolution.

Presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney received applause for supporting marriage when he spoke at the NAACP convention. The National Organization for Marriage reported that Romney vowed, "'As President, I will promote strong families — and I will defend traditional marriage.' NAACP members in the audience then gave Romney sustained applause in response to his pledge."

If the same-sex marriage issue divides the black vote, will that give Romney an edge in the November election? See "Is President Obama losing North Carolina because of same-sex marriage?"

Support marriage: Sign CAAP's pro-gender marriage pledge.

© Frances Kelly