Civil rights leader Rev. Jackson has joined President Obama in supporting equality for gay and lesbian people, saying he would even perform a wedding for a couple

Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson told a conservative reporter at the Democratic National Convention that he would perform a wedding ceremony for a same-sex couple if asked. It is not the first time the Reverend has expressed his sympathy for the plight of the LGBT community, nor is he an exception within the black American community. Jackson and other black leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton have been serving as an increasingly strong voice of support in the movement, while a growing number of black Americans are joining their ranks.

The main issue at stake for Jackson is whether we are going to open the doors to civil rights for some groups, and shut them for others. “The culture [of the civil rights movement] has to expand,” he told Michelangelo Signorile at the Democratic National Convention in an interview for Signorile’s radio program SiriusXM OutQ. He added that “[f]or so long we thought it was a sin for blacks to have freedom,” “[w]e thought it was a sin for black and white men and women to interrelate,” and “[a]ll citizens deserve constitutional protections,” maintaining that “you have a right not to agree with interracial marriage, but no one should be denied rights under the law.” Most ordained pastors in the ULC will agree with the Reverend– civil rights apply to all peaceful, law-abiding citizens involved in loving, consensual relationships.

Jackson also criticized the ballot measure approach taken to legalizing same-sex marriage in places like Maryland, comparing the LGBT plight to that of other historically persecuted groups in the United States. “[The public] should not vote [against people’s civil rights],” he said in the interview. His comments echo similar comments he made back in May when he praised Obama’s support for marriage equality: “If the states had to vote on slavery, we would have lost the vote,” he said in an announcement in which he drew parallels between slavery and the gay marriage fight. Civil rights should not be treated as a popularity contest; they should be granted unanimously as an inherent, universal freedom. For it is none of the majority’s business what the minority do in the privacy of their own homes.

The former 1988 presidential candidate is a leading figure in the effort to increase support for marriage equality in the black community. Earlier this year, a Washington Post-ABC News survey revealed that approval of same-sex marriage among African-Americans rose 18 points to 59 percent after Obama announced his support for the practice. Interestingly, this giant leap in numbers means that the percentage of blacks supporting marriage equality is now higher than that of the general American population, which stands at 53 percent by comparison.

Many of us who have become ordained online in the ULC already share the Reverend’s support for equal marriage rights for all loving couples, but the initiative taken by religious figures like Jackson and Sharpton is vital to the marriage equality movement not only because it has led a shift in attitudes among African-American Protestants, but also because it sets an example for other ordained ministers, who might otherwise be hesitant to “climb on board”. Hopefully, as more men and women of the cloth stand up for what is right, more of their peers will begin to follow in their footsteps.