T.J. HOLMES: Yes, gay marriage, a topic that the - the oldest civil- rights group in the country has been dealing with. Well, I asked the new NAACP president, still fairly new, President Ben Jealous, why his civil-rights organization doesn't yet have a policy officially on gay marriage.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Does the NAACP believe that gay marriage should be legal across the land?
JEALOUS: We don't take a position on that nationally.
We have been steadfast advocates for the basic civil rights of gay people, making sure that, for instance, hate-crimes protection is extended to gay people. We understand that when four black young people were killed not far from here in Newark, on a playground last year, that all four of them were gay.
There's a lot made in the press because the guys who shot them were in Latino, is this black and Latino tension? But we're in the community. So we got the story not just from the national news, but from our local folks. But (INAUDIBLE) those four kids from Delaware State (ph) (INAUDIBLE) - many of them were gay. And that appeared to be a dynamic on the playground.
And so we want to make sure that - that our children and our family members who are gay is - basic civil rights and human rights are protected.
HOLMES: Is that not considered then, in you all's estimation, a civil rights? Some would call it that kind of civil right, a - a issue of equality, a gay person being able to marry who they want to marry?
JEALOUS: That's a very tense debate inside our association. You know, and there have been branches and state conferences - like, for instance, in California and San Francisco, come out very clearly on the issue.
There are others, some of our national board members for instance, from the Midwest, who have taken an entirely opposite position.
We're a democratic, small 'd,' organization, where issues are debated until a consensus is reached. And that one is very much still under debate amongst the membership of the association.
HOLMES: So you will foresee a time when, once that debate is complete, that the NAACP could come out on a national level and have an official position on gay marriage?
JEALOUS: I think having an official position on gay marriage is certainly a possibility. When it will happen - you know, we - we work on issues for decades. So we - we're quick to point out to younger organizations in the civil-rights community that something you think is a sprint may turn out to be a marathon.
HOLMES: What do you think when you hear people - I know you heard this comparison, heard out in California plenty of times, where people would compare the gay-marriage debate and struggle with the civil-rights struggle?
What do you think when you hear that? Is that a fair comparison?
JEALOUS: When people say, you know, this is - this is deeply personal for me. I have a young man who I grew up with, the only two black boys our age in the town where we were born. Our moms were best friends. We became blood brothers when were 4. I call him my brother; he calls me his brother. He's transgender; he's gay.
I've seen the homophobia he's been subjected to in the black community. I've seen the racism that he's been subjected to in the gay community. And I know that one of those identities he can - he can and has hid when he's had to. And nobody should have to hide their identity, nobody.
But when people say gay-straight, black-white, same struggle, same fight. Not exactly. Not exactly.
At the same time - now, the - you know, I have been personally very supportive and encouraging of people who are fighting the battle for gay marriage. I was born in a family where my parent's marriage was illegal. They had to get married in Washington, D.C. Their wedding caravan back to the party in Baltimore was mistaken for a funeral procession. People got off the side and did the sign of the cross and pulled - Catholic state of Maryland.
And so I'm very concerned about the children who are treated hostily (ph) in school grounds because people feel license to sort of through hatred at their parents based on their lifestyle decisions that they make.
But the NAACP is like any other democratic organization, and we're going to debate this fully internally. I, as the head of it, can't say that we have any position nationally. But I can tell you that it's a deeply held, tense debate. And we - because we've seen the way it's torn about other institutions - I'm an Episcopalian, for instance; my church has been torn apart on this issue - are committed to keeping our body together. Because there's a whole bunch of issues, including a whole bunch of issues that are very relevant to gay people, that we have to be together on if we're going to win, whether it's bullying, whether it's hate crimes, for instance.
So - so they count on us to stay together, too.
The NAACP is 
