Julian Bond
"That's why when I am asked, 'Are gay rights civil rights?' my answer is always, 'Of course they are.'"
"Rights for gays and lesbians are not 'special rights' in any way. It isn't "special" to be free from discrimination – that's an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship."
"No parallels between movements for rights is exact. African-Americans are the only Americans who were enslaved for more than two centuries, and people of color carry the badge of who we are on our faces. But we are far from the only people suffering discrimination – sadly, so do many others. They deserve the law's protection and they deserve civil rights too. Sexual disposition parallels race – I was born black and I had no choice. I couldn't and wouldn't change if I could. Like race, our sexuality isn't a preference – it is immutable, unchangeable, and the Constitution protects us against prejudices based on immutable differences."
Julian Bond speaking at the 2008 Creating Change Conference. Bond was a founding member of SNCC in 1960. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he helped organize a sit-in movement at Atlanta University. Since 1998, Julian Bond has served as Chairman of the Board of the NAACP.
Source: Julian Bond's Creating Change 2008 Plenary Speech YouTube video, February 7, 2008. Also available from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force as a pdf.
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