NAACP officially calls for repeal of Proposition 8. Quietly.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP CEO

Here's an interesting bit of news that probably deserves more attention that I've seen it getting: The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) has officially gone on record urging the repeal of Proposition 8, and further, has stated their desire for the California state legislature to go on record in opposition to the proposition as well.

According to the Advocate, NAACP CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous wrote a letter on behalf of the civil rights organization to the state's legislative leaders that read:

"The NAACP's mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law. Our mission statement calls for the 'quality of rights of all persons.' Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California state supreme court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop. 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts -- assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority."  

Um, what he said.

So that's clearly awesome. What's slightly less awesome is the fact that despite communicating this support directly to the legislators, the organization has as of yet made no mention of their support on their website, four days later. While the website has a page featuring their recent press releases, this particular press release is not there.

Pam's House Blend has the full press release, which, from the looks of it, was only sent to (or at least was only picked up by) gay political sites. It's definitely a heartening step toward harmony, but is it wrong to wonder why it's being done on tiptoes?