AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS LAUNCH
"MARYLAND BLACK FAMILY ALLIANCE"

Group Calls Civil Marriage a Civil Right

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR
October 25, 2007

CONTACT:
Elbridge James, MBFA, 301-213-9657, elbridge@marylandbfa.org
Lea Gilmore, MBFA, 443-824-0272, lea@marylandbfa.org
Meredith Curtis, ACLU-MD, 410-889-8555, curtis@aclu-md.org

What: Prominent Maryland African American straight allies who are elected officials, ministers, and community activists, as well as student and national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy groups will announce on Thursday, Oct. 25th, the formation of the Maryland Black Family Alliance (MBFA).

Who: State Senator Gwendolyn Britt, State Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk, State Delegate Craig Rice, Rev. Larry Brumfield, Bonnita Spikes (anti-death penalty advocate and mother of a transgender son), Alexander Robinson (Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition), Vanessa Bowling (Co-President of Morgan State's Rainbow Soul), and Elbridge James (Director of MBFA).

Where: Morgan State University, Student Union, 2nd Fl., Ballroom C

When: Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 11:30 am

Why: The Maryland Black Family Alliance seeks to foster dialogue within the African American community on principles of fairness and support for all black families. We will promote a clear distinction between what civil marriage means legally and what spiritual marriage means from a religious perspective. Most importantly, the Maryland Black Family Alliance will promote the general welfare of all black families by encouraging the principles of legal fairness to empower straight allies to support their LGBT family members and neighbors.

Ending the current exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage would provide especially significant protections to LGBT people of color. Without legal recognition, African American same-sex couples are denied many basic rights and protections under the law, including:

• The right to visit each other if one is hospitalized
• The right to make medical decisions for a loved one
• The right to automatically inherit property shared and paid for together with a spouse
• The right to cover loved ones employee family insurance plans, especially when working for the state government
• The right not to be hit with a tax penalty when employer domestic partners benefits are treated as taxable income