Communities of Color Unite For Marriage

On Monday afternoon, NAYA was the host to the kickoff of Communities of Color United for Marriage, a group of 16 community-based  organizations working together in support of the freedom to marry.

Candi Brings Plenty and Lowicha Falls-Rock share Lakota ancestry, and performed a Lakota honor song to bless the event.

NAYA’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to endorse marriage equality in October 2013.

Candi Brings Plenty, Community Health Advocate, Two Spirit, and  mother of two beautiful daughters, said that because of the discrimination in Oregon’s constitution, “I’m legally withheld from having a family.”

“I asked my daughter what she thought, and she said ‘Love doesn’t discriminate, people do,’”Candi told the crowd.

In attendance were community members, families and staff from the organizations partnered in the effort. Many people present at the event wore t-shirts bearing the Native Vote logo. NAYA is working on improving voter registration and turnout among Portland Native Americans. It is our belief that Native Americans represent a large and growing portion of the electorate, and the Native Vote campaign brings attention and awareness to our community’s voice in civic life. The reverse of the Native Vote shirt reads “Culturally empowered, civically engaged.”

In endorsing, NAYA joins the following prestigious organizations who work within and for communities of color: The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO); Causa, Oregon’s immigrant rights organization; The Democratic Party of Oregon Black Caucus; Educate Ya, Inc; Indigenous Ways of Knowing; Lane County, Oregon League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Latino Network; Mano a Mano Family Center; The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Portland; NAACP Eugene, Springfield & Lane County; Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Portland Black Chapter; Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste; The Portland Japanese American Citizens League; The Urban League of Portland; and the Western States Center.