A crowd of about 60 black activists and religious leaders rallied Thursday to support gay marriage and voice their opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment banning such unions.
"This issue is not a gay issue, it's a human issue," said Rev. Leslie Burke of the non-denominational Unity Fellowship in Church of Christ.
Her descendants were slaves who were forbidden to marry and "had to jump the broom," Burke said in reference to a ritual created by black slaves who could not legally marry.
Supporters of the event, sponsored by the National Black Justice Coalition, carried signs saying "We all deserve the freedom to marry." They included members of the National Alliance of Positive Action, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and the United Lesbians of African Heritage.
Vallerie Wagner of Zuna Institute, a national advocacy organization for black lesbians, said she wanted to differentiate between religious ceremonies and marriage as a legal contract recognized by the state.
"If any church doesn't want to perform gay marriages that is their right," she said. "We have our own churches, but saying I do' in a church doesn't allow you the rights of survivorship" and other rights given to married people.
Also at the rally were Jewel Thais-Williams, 57, and 64-year-old Rue Thais-Williams who are both black and introduced themselves as "spouses" and partners of 16 years.
"We are here to celebrate in public our desire to make our union legal," said Jewel Thais-Williams. "We need to be recognized." David Almasi, director of Project 21, a Washington, D.C.-based political alliance of conservative blacks, was not at the rally, but disagreed with comparing the struggle to legalize same-sex marriage to the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Sexual orientation is not the same as skin color, he said. People can change their sexual identity but when someone is born black or white or Hispanic, they can't change that.