PBS's Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens aired a documentary film focusing on gay rights in the Black Community titled The New Black, which gathers points of view from families, members of the church, and gay-rights advocates – both opposing and in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

"I came to realize that the issue of gay rights in the black community is in many ways a fight over the African-American family, which has been a contested space since the time of slavery,” said the film’s director Yoruba Richen.

The film confronts the issues of acceptance of the LGBTQ community within the Black church and the conflict of interest that arises when religion goes up against the legacy of civil rights.

Within the first three minutes, a man describes traditional marriage as “one man, one woman.“

“Based on whose tradition?” was the response.

The film follows the 2012 campaign trail to the streets of Baltimore documenting the varying views on marriage equality.

The story is told with the absence of a formal narrator and is told solely through interviews from people representing both sides of the issue.

Today, several states have legalized gay marriage.

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