July 19, 2009Saying gays “are still denied their rights,” President Barack Obama told the NAACP at its centennial convention Thursday night, “. . . make no mistake, the pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion for simply kneeling down to pray. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights. On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America.”
Photo of President Obama addressing the the NAACP July 16, 2009 As Rod 2.0 noted, “This is vintage Barack Obama, the candidate we grew to admire on the campaign trail for telling black church audiences that it ‘wasn't very Christian’ to make homophobic remarks, and cautioning against homophobia from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church.”
Julian Bond shakes the hand of President Barack Obama at the centennial NAACP convention 7-16-09 photo
The audience broke into applause when the President addressed “our gay brothers and sisters.” Obama's observations were made as the veteran civil rights organization created its first LGBT Equality Task Force and was addressed by the National Black Justice Coalition, the nationwide black LGBT group.
Read the full text of the speech on Towleroad.comWatch the video of President Obama speaking to the NAACP Thursdy evening, July 16, 2009:
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