{"id":13522,"date":"2012-04-02T17:32:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T21:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=13522"},"modified":"2012-05-09T10:24:07","modified_gmt":"2012-05-09T14:24:07","slug":"cleveland-naacps-george-forbes-joins-ohios-freedom-to-marry-campaign-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/04\/cleveland-naacps-george-forbes-joins-ohios-freedom-to-marry-campaign-poll.html","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland NAACP’s George Forbes joins Ohio’s Freedom to Marry campaign (+ poll)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watchwoman<\/strong><\/span> does not endorse, use or condone the application of the word “gay” to sodomites. The Bible never calls sodomites gay. \u25ac Donna Calvin<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Please vote in the poll.\u00a0 Do you approve of sodomite marriage?
\nTo cast your vote go to: <\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/metro\/index.ssf\/2012\/04\/cleveland_naacp_president_forb.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

______________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Published: Monday, April 02, 2012, 3:20 PM \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Updated: Monday, April 02, 2012, 3:47 PM<\/h5>\n
\"Plain <\/a> By Plain Dealer staff\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"gay<\/div>\n

Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
\nGay couples in Cleveland last month took part in a mass wedding at the downtown Galleria.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes said he supports an Ohio movement to allow gay marriage in the state.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A key political figure in one of the states debating gay marriage jumped aboard the Freedom to Marry campaign\u00a0<\/a> in Ohio.<\/p>\n

Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes<\/a> said in a statement that he believes the banning of gay marriage in Ohio is clear discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time is now to grant two loving people the Freedom to Marry,” he said in a written statement.
\n“Not since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has there been a more important step to achieving equality for all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Forbes also said he acknowledged the freedom of churches and synagogues to not conduct or support the marriages of civil unions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we are ensuring that religious institutions are guaranteed the freedom to refuse to perform or recognize marriages,\u201d he said in the statement.<\/p>\n

Forbes had worked alongside black ministers in 2008-09 to stop an effort to repeal <\/a>Cleveland\u2019s Domestic Partner Registry ordinance.<\/p>\n

The Freedom to Marry group this year is trying to repeal and replace a 2004 amendment to the Ohio Constitution that says the state only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman. The group’s proposal seeks to allow two consenting adults to enter into marriage regardless of gender.<\/p>\n

The group last week delivered a new summary of the proposal and more than 2,380 signatures to the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who had previously ruled the group did not provide adequate description of the measure.<\/p>\n

The proposal needs his approval before the group can begin gathering the roughly 385,000 signatures needed to put the measure before Ohio voters, the Associated Press reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"forbes1.jpg\"<\/div>\n

NAACP’s President George Forbes approves going on the down-low, something that is repulsive to most of the black population!\u00a0 Forbes is a former councilman in Cleveland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mary Jo Kilroy, Freedom to Marry CEO, said Forbes’ support will ensure that those “who oppose marriage equality will not be able to sow divisions between the African-American and the LGBT communities.”<\/p>\n

Support or opposition to same-sex marriage among specific racial groups has been an increasingly hot political topic, especially in recent weeks when a human rights group said internal memos from the group National Organization for Marriage showed that it would use “a racial wedge strategy to fight campaigns for marriage equality,” according to MSNBC.<\/a><\/p>\n

Freedom to Marry Coalition State Chair Tim Hagan said Forbes joined a “growing chorus of civic and religious leaders,” in support of same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Hagan said.<\/p>\n

In February of this year, Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley signed the \u201cMayors for the Freedom to Marry\u201d <\/a>pledge, saying he believed he was the first mayor to sign the pledge. He said he was contacted via email by the Columbus-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy group.<\/p>\n

In March, more than 200 gay and lesbian couples from across the state participated in what they called the “largest illegal mass wedding ever held” <\/a>at The Galleria in downtown Cleveland.<\/p>\n

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PLEASE VOTE IN THE FOLLOWING POLL.<\/strong>
\nTo vote go to:\u00a0http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/metro\/index.ssf\/2012\/04\/cleveland_naacp_president_forb.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Do you support the ‘Freedom to Marry’ campaign in Ohio?<\/p>\n