The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched a new video campaign that features Cory Booker, Mo’Nique, and Julian Bond in its latest public campaign for marriage equality, and that’s no accident, according to The New York Times. The videos are part of the Americans for Marriage Equality campaign, which aims to educate Americans about same-sex marriage rights – and particularly same-sex relationships among diverse Americans.
Last April, when the fight for same-sex marriage gained momentum in New York, the Siena College Research Institute found that only 46 percent of black voters supported marriage equality – a significant drop from other ethnic groups such as whites who supported it by a margin of 62 percent, and Latinos who favored same sex-marriage rights by 54 percent.
In another poll by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, support for same-sex marriage fell to 41 percent from Black Marylanders. Nearly 59 percent of black respondents said they oppose same-sex marriage.
According to The New York Times, many African-Americans oppose same-sex marriage because of religious causes. “This is a community composed of many Biblical literalists,” said Julian Bond, former chairman of the N.A.A.C.P and current HRC star. He added, “[African-Americans are] wrong and wrong-headed” in regard to certain Biblical references to homosexuality.
The Americans for Marriage Equality videos are smart; Booker’s video does not mention homosexuality – instead, the focus is on love and liberty. With videos that focus on egalitarianism, the HRC aims to educate black voters in an effort to influence voters on marriage equality.
Watch the video now.
