Rev. Keith Ratliff has said he's
praying over whether to remain in the NAACP after its national board
of directors endorsed gay marriage.
At the NAACP's quarterly board meeting
in Miami on Saturday, the 64-member board approved
a resolution which calls gay marriage a “civil right and a
matter of law.”
(Related: Julian
Bond says Obama nudged NAACP on gay marriage.)
At a press conference held on Monday,
NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous warned against gay marriage
bans, calling
them “dangerous.”
Ratliff, who ministers at the Maple
Street Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines, Iowa and is the
president of the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, told the Des
Moines Register that he did not attend Saturday's meeting.
“Marriage equality, for me, is
between a man and a woman, period. There is no other definition for
me,” Ratliff told the paper.
“I'm praying over the matter and I
have to make a decision for myself as to whether I'm going to stay in
the organization or not.” He said he wanted to talk with the
national office before making a decision.
Ratliff has vigorously opposed the 2009
legalization of gay marriage in Iowa.
(Related: Keith
Ratliff: NAACP board's most outspoken gay marriage foe.)