Copyright: Madison Marks.
The November 4 General Election signified a historic day for Americans, especially black Americans, when Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States. Sharing the skin color with a race that has struggled for equality even after the Civil Rights movement of the twentieth century, Obama was able to successfully arouse a surge in black voter turnout by promising progressive change from the lame duck Bush Administration. While the large number of black voters helped to elect the liberal Obama Commander-in-Chief, they also helped swing the pendulum on the issue of same-sex marriage to the right by passing marriage amendments in California, Florida, and Arizona.
In California, black voters tended to support Proposition 8, labeled “Eliminates right of same-sex couples to marry.” (Swift, Mike and Webby, Sean) Exit polls on November 4, performed by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International, revealed that of the 52 percent of Californians that voted to pass Proposition 8. Of these, 7 in 10 black voters, of whom voted mostly for Obama, voted to reverse the state’s Supreme Court decision that had legalized same-sex marriage in spring 2008 (Crary, David and Leff, Lisa). Behind blacks, a majority of Latinos tended to favor Proposition 8, compared with 49 percent among white and Asian voters (Ferriss, Susan).
Ultimately, California’s black voters boosted their impact on California’s electorate from 6 percent in 2004’s General Election to 10 percent in 2008’s. Gary Dietrich, president of Citizen Voice, a nonpartisan group aimed at voter awareness in California, saw the “high percentages of African Americans” as critical to passing Proposition 8. As a result, supporters of the proposition, which had originally feared that the high black voter turnout for Obama would hurt the chances of the proposition’s passage, celebrated their victory. They cited blacks’ tendencies to hold traditional religious views as a major contributor to their overwhelming support of the amendment (Ferris, Susan).
During the short time that California legalized same-sex marriage, approximately 18,000 same-sex couples were married. After hearing the news of California’s decision to once again ban gay marriage, as had been in 2000, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) immediately filed suit against the state, charging that “California’s ballot cannot be used to undermine one group’s access to rights enjoyed by other citizens.” (Crary, David and Leff, Lisa) Other lawsuits were promised if the state chose to invalidate the gay marriages that had been legally performed following the Supreme Court’s overruling of California’s gay marriage ban.
Opponents of Proposition 8 delivered messages, including a reminder of a ban that once was held on interracial marriage, in hopes of encouraging minority voters to sympathize with gays; however, comparing the gay cause to that of the Civil Rights movement seemed to be a turnoff for black voters. According to Dietrich, “they [African-Americans] do not believe at all there is a correlation between civil rights vis-à-vis blacks and rights for gays.” (Ferriss, Susan) Even for a lesbian, black political activist in California, opponents of Proposition 8 “failed to win black support.” (Cannick, Jasmyne) For Jasmyne A. Cannick, a writer in Los Angeles, white homosexuals failed to effectively communicate to black voters why rejecting the proposition was important:
"The first problem with Proposition 8 was the issue of marriage itself. The white gay community never successfully communicated to blacks why it should matter to us above everything else -not just to me as a lesbian, but to blacks generally… Second is the issue of civil rights. White gays often wonder aloud why blacks, of all people, won’t support their civil rights…To many blacks, civil rights are grounded in Christianity -- not something separate and apart from religion but synonymous with it. To the extent that the issue of gay marriage seemed to be pitted against the church, it was going to be a losing battle in my community…And in the end, black voters in California voted against gay marriage by more than 2 to 1.” (Cannick, Jasmyne)
In her opinion, Cannick also mentioned that opponents of Proposition 8 failed to reach blacks by relying on an “outdated civil rights model.” The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was depended upon to influence the black community on Proposition 8; however, “putting nearly a quarter of a million dollars into an outdated civil rights group that has very little influence on the black vote - at least when it comes to gay issues” did not work (Cannick, Jasmyne). Although advance warnings from black lesbians and gays said relying solely on the NAACP to reach black voters would be costly, the NAACP continued to believe they were being effective. California NAACP President Alice Huffman even issued a memo to reporters on Election Day predicting that California’s minority turnout would assist in the state’s overall rejection of Proposition 8 (Swift, Mike and Webby, Sean).
Another obstacle opponents like Gloria Nieto, a lead organizer for the No on Proposition 8 campaign in San Jose, faced was the general lack of campaign literature available in Spanish and Vietnamese that contributed to the opponents’ failure to adequately educate minority groups on the issue (Swift, Mike and Webby, Sean). Still, supporters of Proposition 8 worried that the expected surge in black voter turnout for Obama would contribute to the failure of the proposition. When Proposition 8 supporters witnessed the results of the election, they were surprised to see that the majority of black voters had paradoxically voted liberally for th the president and conservatively on marriage.
Similarly, in Florida, black voter turnout helped Amendment 2 pass. Amendment 2 read: “This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.” (Florida Marriage Amendment, 2008) Unlike in California, where voters were voting to overturn a Supreme Court decision, Floridians were essentially voting to secure the definition of marriage as between “one man and woman” in the state Constitution, and prevent activist judges from reinterpreting the definition of marriage in the future. Also, Floridians had to pass the amendment by a 60 percent majority.
In September, a poll was conducted by Quinnipiac University that revealed support for the amendment harbored at 55 percent; however, in the same month, the St. Petersburg Times and the Miami Herald conducted a survey showing 65 percent of black voters favored the amendment (Brumley, Jeff). Another poll, conducted by polling company SEA Polling and Strategic Design in coordination with the St. Petersburg Times, Bay News 9, and the Miami Herald from October 20 - 22, showed the strongest support for the amendment coming from those who attended church regularly (Farley, Robert).
With 85 percent of voters expected to cast votes in Florida, Yes 2 Marriage, leading support for the amendment, involved Christian pastors and created a special coalition, Black Americans for Marriage, in order to reach blacks. Joining the coalition were black clergymen and churches who rallied their congregations and black communities to vote in favor of Amendment 2. Pro-amendment rallies were held to unite over 5,000 pastors across Florida. At one of these rallies, the Rev. Clayton Coer, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Central Florida, urged the audience “you gotta wake up and you gotta speak up,” as supporters worked to secure the 60 percent of support needed (Brumley, Jeff).
Like in California, Florida’s high voter turnout for both blacks and Hispanics was overwhelmingly to cast a ballot for Obama. Many of the black voters tended to be “socially liberal and theologically conservative.” (Brumley, Jeff) After Amendment 2 passed with 62 percent of voters in favor, Derek Newton, campaign manager for Florida Red and Blue, the group that opposed the amendment, blamed the amendment’s loss on “new or infrequent” voters who “were not educated about Amendment 2 and who voted for it rather than skip the question.” (Gresko, Jessica) Religious leaders, like the Rev. Ruth Jensen-Forbell, both a lesbian and pastor of St. Augustine’s Metropolitan Community Church, blamed those who voted from traditional religious views as being “grossly misinformed” regarding the Bible’s commentary on homosexuality. According to her, “Scriptures used to condemn homosexuality in reality are about social issues relevant only to biblical times.”
The final state to pass a marriage amendment was Arizona, which is also the only state that has ever defeated a marriage amendment. Arizona voters reversed track from their 2004 strike down of a similar marriage amendment when a 57 percent majority approved Proposition 102, which added the article “Marriage - Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state” to the state constitution. Arkansas also passed a measure which barred same-sex couples from fostering or adopting children (McKinley, Jessica).
While the world celebrated the election of a liberal candidate, conservatives remained optimistic as they looked to their nationwide victories in preserving traditional marriage. Christian groups also looked to the “common thread” that was seen among blacks, Hispanics, and whites on the issue of marriage. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, saw that “common thread” as the church: “It’s faith. If Republicans want to reach into those ethnic groups, really the only bridge they can cross over are the social issues.” (Gorski, Eric)
Others looked at the results of the marriage measures as a step back for the gay rights movement. But Timothy Stewart-Winter, the James C. Hormel Fellow in Lesbian and Gay Studies at the University of Chicago, saw the step back as temporary. In his article, appearing in the Los Angeles Times, Stewart-Winter cited a study completed by Gregory B. Lewis. The study, which was conducted from 1973-2000, found that “blacks appear to be more likely than whites both to see homosexuality as wrong and to favor gay-rights laws.” (Stewart-Winter, Timothy)
Will blacks move towards an acceptance, or even toleration, of homosexuality in the near future? From the viewpoint of Congressional member Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, blacks in Congress are “with no close second, the most supportive group for gays and lesbians.” (Stewart-Winter, Timothy) Obama, who does not support homosexuality personally but endorses granting homosexuals equal privileges in marriage and on the basis of sexual orientation, was able to attract a large percentage of black voters to the polls. He could be the deciding factor for the future of gay marriage and black perceptions of homosexuality.
Works Cited:
STORIES ON THE ISSUE
"Gay marriage continues to be hot issue." 08 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008;
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"Same-sex marriage bans paradoxical in historic election." 07 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Oliphant, James. "A victory that revolutionizes civil rights: manner of Obama's ascendance-by vote-matters as much as the win." 09 November 2008; accessed 09 November 2008; .
Gresko, Jessica. "Not totally blue: Fla. bans gay marriage." 05 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Brumley, Jeff. "Amendment 2: Marriage defined; beliefs unclear." 06 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Goldberg, Jonah. "Progressive, regressive: victory shows Achilles' heel." 07 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Swift, Mike, Webby, Sean. "Black and Latino voters critical to same-sex marriage ban's success." 05 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Ferriss, Susan. "Black voters helped ban gay marriage in California." 07 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
"Survey: Black Voters Key to Election, Swing States." 21 October 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Connor, Deirdre. "Marriage amendment divides black community." 15 October 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Farley, Robert. “Amendment 2 fate lies with black turnout.” 24 October 2008; accessed 08 November 2008;
"Florida Marriage Amendment (2008)." 2008; accessed 11 November 2008;
Brumley, Jeff. "Marriage amendment spurs churches to action." 15 September 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
McKinley, Jessica, Goodstein, Laurie. "Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage ." 05 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
GROUP RESPONSE TO THE ISSUE
Gorski, Eric. "Christian right regroups after Obama victory." 08 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Crary, David, Leff, Lisa. "Gay activists jarred by California marriage defeat." 06 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
"ACLU of Florida Statement on Amendment 2." 05 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
EDITORIALS, STATISTICS, POLLS AND EVALUATIONS
VerSteeg, Jac Wilder. "Gay has become the new black." 08 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Manjoo, Farhad. "Props to Obama: Did he help push California gay-marriage ban over the top?" 05 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008;
Chen , Ben. "Shock and no awe." 07 November 2008; accessed from 08 November 2008; .
Cannick, Jasmyne A.. "No-on-8's white bias." 08 November 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
Stewart-Winter, Timothy. "Gay marriage and the black vote." 14 August 2008; accessed 08 November 2008; .
