Julian Bond Joins Florida's Marriage Equality Fight

NAACP head Julian Bond has joined the fight against Florida's coming statewide ballot on marriage equality.

Julian Bond, an icon in the civil rights movement for nearly 50 years and longtime national Chairman of the NAACP, has stepped into a leadership role with the Fairness for All Families Campaign the statewide coalition effort to defeat the deceptively named "Florida Marriage Protection" Amendment.

The campaign's Honorary Board members includes: Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz; former Department of Elder Affairs Secretary and past AARP President Bentley Lipscomb; Florida NAACP President Adora Obi Nweze; Howard Simon, Executive Director, Florida ACLU; Rev. Nancy Wilson, Worldwide Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches.

"Julian Bond has long been a voice for fairness and equality and we are proud to have him speaking out against this harmful amendment that singles people out for discrimination and make it harder for Floridians to take care of their love ones," said Barbara A. DeVane of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and a member of the Fairness board.

The Fairness for All Families Campaign is a coalition of more than 200 organizations and community leaders representing seniors, business leaders, consumer groups and social justice organizations working together to oppose the effort to take away benefits and enshrine discrimination in Florida's constitution.

The addition of Julian Bond to the Fairness for All Families Campaign comes at a time when newspaper editorial boards across the state are actively opposing the amendment and describing the harm to all unmarried Floridians including seniors, public employees and others who rely on domestic partnership benefits to protect their loved ones.

Three cheers for Julian Bond!