Newark Mayor Cory Booker has said he's
proud of President Barack Obama's recent endorsement of gay marriage,
adding that he is hopeful that New Jersey will legalize such unions.
Booker was the headline speaker at the
Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) 16th Annual National Dinner
held Saturday at the Walter E. Washington convention center in
Washington D.C.
Booker spoke passionately on civil
rights for about 20 minutes.
“I get in weird conversations with my
friends,” Booker told an estimated 3,000 people. “'Why you
always talking about gay rights?' I said, 'I'm not talking about gay
rights. I'm talking about human rights. I'm talking about my
rights. I'm talking about your rights.'”
“When people were fighting to expand
the promise of this country, it took everybody involved, 'cause we
knew we were all in it together. That deep and real African proverb
was clearly true in our history that says, 'If you want to go fast,
you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.'”
“And so now, it's time we go
together.”
Booker said he was a “prisoner of
hope,” then added that New Jersey would join the states with
marriage equality.
“And when that bill is signed, I may
have a very good seat for it.”
“I'm so proud of my president for all
he has done in this cause and I will work until the last hour to see
President Barack Obama re-elected,” he later added. (The video is
embedded on this page. Visit
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At the annual benefit, the NAACP and its
president, Ben Jealous, received the group's National Equality Award.
Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field was presented with the
group's Ally for Equality Award.