Today, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 margin on one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time: the right for same sex couples to marry.
With Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority, the Court affirmed that the right to marriage is a fundamental right and that gay and lesbian people cannot be deprived of it.
The Black AIDS Institute salutes the Court for pronouncing that there is one class of citizenship in the United States; that all men and women are created equal, no matter their sexual orientation.
It is not lost on us that this decision has come down on the same date and at almost this very hour as the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the slain pastor of Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston.
Importantly, while we applaud this decision and look forward to LGBT people regardless of race and ethnicity enjoying the right to form families and marry as they see fit, we cannot forget that while our nation has made breathtaking progress on gay rights over the past decade, 50 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, America continues to be challenged by the fundamental notion of equality based on race.
Black and other LGBT people of color live at the intersection of sexual orientation and race. We don’t get to be gay and lesbian on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Black on Tuesday and Thursday-we take all of ourselves with us everywhere we go. The time has come to extend the conversation about equal protections so that it’s not just for more of us. It is for all of us and for all of our selves.
“This is an amazing leap forward toward the promise of liberty and justice for all.” said Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. “But in all the celebration, it is important to note we are not there yet. This Supreme Court decision, reminds us that change can happen, and we the people of the United States must continue our struggle so that Americans of all backgrounds can participate fully in our society. Human beings do not live in compartments-either we are free, whole and fully American or we’re not.”
About the Black AIDS Institute
Founded in May of 1999, the Black AIDS Institute (www.blackaids.org) is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute’s Mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies, conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates information and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view. For more information or to interview Phill Wilson, contact Wendell Miller at 213-353-3610, extension 105.
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