NAACP Pres Speaks at LGBT Center

NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous spoke Wednesday to the New York City LGBT Community Center, the first such appearance by a sitting head of the civil rights organization.

Jealous spoke to more than 150 attendees at the center in Manhattan. The purpose of his visit was to encourage participation in One Nation Working Together, a progressive rally being planned for October 2 in Washington, D.C. Attendees interested in departing from New York City can register for $10 non-stop chartered buses to the capital on the morning of the rally.

Supporters call the rally an unprecedented example of organized labor and civil rights organizations reaching out to include LGBT groups. The One Nation Working Together statement of policy principles includes demands to end discrimination against LGBT people, respect all families, and create safe school environments.

Jealous dedicated his speech, which is available below, to Bayard Rustin, the gay man who organized the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom.