President of Family Research Council Tony Perkins announced a new alliance between the an Arlington Group of pro-family groups and the Coalition of African American Pastor, who are joining to fight same-sex marriage.

"On Capitol Hill today, I helped to announce a new alliance between the Arlington Group - a coalition of state and national pro-family organizations - and the Coalition of African American Pastors. This new alliance in the fight to protect marriage is going to be vital to our success in passing the Federal Marriage Amendment in Congress," said Perkins in his Washington Update e-mail service.

"Marriage is a black and white issue - it's one man and one woman. African Americans know all too well that family breakdown can have devastating consequences on children, communities and all of society, and their support for protecting marriage is higher than the national average for precisely that reason. I was joined today by FRC friends Paul Weyrich and Gary Bauer, as well as four of our new allies: Rev. William Owens, Dr. Leonard Lovett, Pastor Charles Lewis Jackson and Bishop Felton Smith. As these pastors pointed out, America's black churches are filled with a congregation that overwhelmingly wants marriage protected as the union of one man and one woman, and the coalition we announced today will go a long way in mobilizing these pro-family Americans," he said.