Group official targeted over gay marriage

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- The Rev. Eric P. Lee, head of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, says he may lose his post for backing gay marriage.

Lee said after initially being summoned by the civil rights group's National Board of Directors in response to his support of same-sex marriage, he was informed by an organization attorney he may lose his position if unable to explain his position to board members, The New York Times said Friday.

Lee said he was an outspoken opponent of California's Proposition 8 in 2008, which banned same-sex marriage, despite the fact that it brought about great stress in his life.

"But it was clear to me that any time you deny one group of people the same right that other groups have that is a clear violation of civil rights and I have to speak up on that," Lee said of his reasoning for opposing Proposition 8.

Lee told the Times he was informed in April by Byron Clay, the interim president of the civil rights organization, that the civil rights group holds a neutral stance on same-sex marriage.