30 Black Pastors Decry Homosexual “Marriage” as the New Civil Rights Movement

ATLANTA, March 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Black pastors have united in a voice of dissent against the inference that the homosexual-rights movement can be compared to the civil rights movement. Thirty pastors rallied along with 250 supporters Monday at an Atlanta church, and signed a declaration calling for a constitutional ban on homosexual marriage.  The declaration described marriage between a man and a woman as a necessity, and said that same-sex marriage is not a right. “This is neither a hate nor a fear issue,” the declaration stated. “People are free in our nation to pursue relationships as they choose. To redefine marriage, however, to suit the preference of those choosing alternative lifestyles is wrong.”“The homosexual lobby is seeking a negative freedom rooted in the sexual revolution, and it’s a negative freedom from the restraint of morality,” Bishop Donn Thomas of Messiah’s World Outreach Ministries said. Thomas called the civil rights movement “a positive freedom for African-Americans to experience our capabilities as men and women created in the image of God.”  Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Georgia. Opponents want legislation to ensure judges will not be forced to recognize marriages performed in other states.  After November’s Massachusetts ruling demanding a change to legislation that would allow homosexual marriage, 60 percent of American blacks polled in a Pew Research Center poll said they opposed same-sex marriage.  Meanwhile in the Twin Cities, 3,000 people rallied in support of a ban on homosexual marriage. The constitutional amendment, introduced by Senator Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, sparked heated debate. In a vote, the Democratic majority defeated the motion 35-31.  Expressing his frustration over the defeat, Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna said “You are seeing what a Democratic-run Senate is really like. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.”  Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  “U.S. Black Leaders Repudiate Same-Sex Marriage as the New “Civil Rights Movement,” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/nov/03112806.html   “Jewish Rabbi Explains Why Opposition to Gay Marriage is Not Discrimination” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04030305.html   “What Gay & Lesbian Activists Won’t Tell You or Your Children: Homosexual Myths and Realities” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/apr/990426a.html