A new report by the Williams Institute, a think tank of the UCLA School of Law, finds that there are 1 million black people who identify as LGBT and one of the states with the most black gay couples includes Georgia.
The 1 million figure accounts for 3.7 percent of African American adults, according to the report titled, "LGBT African-American Individuals and African-American Same-Sex Couples."
There are an estimated 84,000 African American people in same-sex relationships with 25 percent of that number living in Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Maryland, the report states.
A new coalition of LGBT friendly churches and African-American organizations is coming together to combat efforts to drive a wedge between black voters and President Barack Obama in the 2012 election because the president now personally supports same-sex marriage.
Elder Antonio Jones, a gay pastor of Atlanta’s Unity Fellowship, said he and others including the National Black Justice Coalition have formed NoWedge2012.com specifically to start healthy dialogues with black Americans over the issue of marriage equality.
At the May 17 International Day Against Homophobia event held in Hapeville, Ga., Jones said the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage “wants to drive a wedge between the African-American community and the LGBT community.”