Harris tells African church conference ‘we are not going back’ as its leaders voted to ban gay marriage

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, thanked leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church for their support this week and told them she is determined to move the country forward for them, but the church’s leaders don’t seem to want that when it comes to gay marriage. Leaders of the AME church voted Wednesday at its 52nd quadrennial conference held in Columbus, Ohio, to strike down a bill that would have ended the AME church’s ban on same-sex marriage. In an address to attendees of the conference the same day, Harris slammed Republicans for trying to pull the country backward. Today, 92% of the AME church’s congregants identify as Democrats, according to the polling firm Pew Research Center. Although the church boasts a vast network of Democratic congregants, its position on same-sex marriage remains out of step with the official stance of the Democratic Party. In 2004, the church’s leaders released a statement indicating gay marriage was contradictory to how they interpret the Bible, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBTQ nonprofit. More recently, there has been internal disagreement on the matter, illustrated by Wednesday’s vote to strike down the church’s gay marriage ban, which received 896 nays and 722 yeas. While Harris seems unconcerned with the AME church’s stance on gay marriage, she has had some harsh words for Republicans on other “anti-equality” measures. “These so-called leaders have proposed and passed more than 75 new anti-equality bills across our country,” Harris said at a Pride Month event last year. Republicans, meanwhile, have derided Harris as a “political chameleon” who shifts her policy positions for political purposes. ‘EVANGELICALS FOR HARRIS’ COURTS ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ CHRISTIANS TO BACK DEMOCRAT IN NOVEMBER The Harris campaign did not respond to questions on whether the vice president was aware of the AME church’s stance on gay marriage prior to filming her message that was played at the conference or if she still supports the rights of same-sex couples to get married. “This is the most consequential election of our lifetime,” Harris told the congregants Wednesday, thanking them “deeply” for their support and get-out-the-vote efforts. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-tells-african-church-conference-we-are-not-going-back-as-its-leaders-voted-to-ban-gay-marriage