Harry Jackson, leader of Hope Christian Church in Maryland, appearing in an MSNBC segment to promote his effort to overturn marriage for lesbian and gay couples in Washington. He is reportedly a well-educated, affluent preacher who owns multiple homes and previously implored “the Black vote” to support George W. Bush.
In this video, Jackson continually tells host, Cenk Uyger, that same-sex marriages threaten children. He also pits the historic struggle of African Americans’ rights against gay Americans’ rights. Yesterday, one of his comrades, a DC preacher named Anthony Evans, did the exact same thing, going so far as to declare (without any evidence) that Martin Luther King, Jr was against gay marriage. (MSNBC via YouTube)
Jackson and his cohorts attempted many times last year to block gay marriage from being passed. They even tried to appeal to Congress to intervene — to circumvent the District’s home rule because Mayor Fenty and and a nearly unanimous DC City Council supported the gay marriage law. Jackson held offensive public rallies and went on many cable news programs. He held hands with the National Organizationf or Marriage, the Family Research Council, the Washington Archdiocese, Marion Barry, and several local preachers to file a man-woman only “Marriage Initiative.” He tried to get the Supreme Court to block the approved law from taking effect.
And, at a series of public hearings on gay marriage, Councilman David Catania questioned Jackson, only to discover that Jackson had never voted in DC, nor was he aware that voter initiatives were once used keep DC’s black citizens from voting. In today’s interview, he mentions Walter Fauntroy, another preacher and long-time DC political figure, who put on an incoherent, foolish display at those same Council hearings last year.
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