Perspective
By Saxon Baird - Nov 5th, 2008 at 4:34 pmLike many of us, I was in awe of the symbolic and historical significance of Barack Obama’s election as our 44th president last night. However, as a California native, the victory comes with a shadow cast over it.
With the passage of California Proposition 8, the California Constitution will be now be changed to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry (overruling a May 15, 2008 4-3 California Supreme Court decision ruling that the original statute limiting marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution).
The passage of Prop 8 reveals some unfortunate truths about our country and our new president-elect. Obama does not support gay marriage and did little to openly speak in favor of maintaining the California Supreme Court’s decision. In an even darker irony, a large majority of those who voted in favor of the proposition were African-American and Latino.
It is strange that we are taking a step back at such a historic moment in our country’s history. It makes it even harder to swallow given that a large population of those who have suffered from a lack of equal rights went to the polls and supported oppression similar to what they and their ancestors have suffered.
I think that his election is a symbolic victory that shows that change can occur in America, but there’s no reason to get ahead of ourselves. Prop 8 is an unfortunate reminder that we still have a long way to go when it comes to civil rights in the country for all Americans. While I understand the historical significance of Obama being elected as the first African-American president, we need to ask ourselves just how much his election is a sign of real change in America, rather than a symbolic victory that hints as the potential we have yet to fulfill.
Saxon Baird is the next Norman Mailer, except with less homophobia and wife stabbing.
November 5th, 2008 at 4:41 pmI agree with everything you’ve said, except “a large majority of those who voted in favor of the proposition were African-American and Latino”.
I’ve been looking at the exit polls and asking myself how this awful bullshit came to pass - and you’ve got the blame aimed correctly, but it’s not correct to say that a large majority - or even a majority - of those who voted in favor of the proposition were African-American and Latino. Instead, what is true is that a large majority of African-Americans (70%) and a slight majority of Latinos (53%) voted for it. Also, if they had voted no on prop 8 in the same amount as they’d voted for Obama, it would have failed massively.
The correct totals, if you’re curious, for prop 8 support by race:
60% white
13% black
18% latino
6% asian
3% other
Basically, blame is on blacks. Sorry - I mean, I thank them for all the help in electing Obama, that was solid, but the prop 8 thing is squarely on them. Sometime the African-American community is going to have to get cool with the gay community. I feel like this is an untouchable subject among the progressive left, though, since these are our people and we don’t like infighting. It’s a problem.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:31 pmright. thanks for the correction.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:10 pmwhoa.whoa.whoa. let’s hold off on the blame game. it’s unfair to blame the passage of Prop 8 on any single group, regardless of what the writing appears to say on the wall.
Firstly, we know that exit polls have not been a reliable source of information on how people actually voted. Credible analysis of voting behavior won’t be available for months.
Secondly, as Pam Spaulding points out, “the blame needs to be put into perspective - blacks represent only 6.2% of California’s population.” (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=D771C967A50E53459539AA7FF5E6BF11?diaryId=8013)
To blame prop 8 on blacks only isolates people of color from LGBT people and LGBT people from people of color. Ultimately we abandon those in the middle–LGBT people of color who are somehow always forced to mend this divide.
The exit polls also show that marriage equality is as much about age and education as it is about race. It doesn’t benefit ourselves or the movement to hold a single group accountable for what happened in CA.
November 6th, 2008 at 10:58 amSaxon, I’m disappointed that you let MBG’s comment go unchecked.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pmOh the whole “blame is on the blacks” comment at the end. Yeah, that was pretty ridiculous. However, if you are referring to the percentages. I did check them through CNN and it seemed all accurate to me.
Hi Tanya.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:50 pmFrom Queerty:
“When constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were on 11 state ballots in November 2004, blacks in Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio and Oklahoma were at least one percentage point less likely than whites to vote for them, according to CNN exit polls. Only in Georgia were blacks slightly more likely to vote for the amendment. (The remaining four states had too few blacks to make a meaningful comparison.)”
November 6th, 2008 at 3:58 pmI mean, the discussion continues in Jesse’s new post, but since I’ve come back here… ok, sorry, ‘blame is on the blacks’ is not quite fair, every person who didn’t vote against prop 8 should be ashamed of themselves.
That said, this queerty quote (which comes from the la times originally) is kind of misleading. I mean, yes, it’s true, but the white population in these states is not exactly the same as the white population of california, politically.
The thing that’s frustrating is not that blacks are more or less willing than whites to support same-sex marriage, it’s that blacks are the most reliably progressive voters on every other issue. For the record, in 2004, here are the percentages of blacks voting to ban gay marriage, by state:
AR: 66%
KY: 70%
MI: 59%
MS: 77%
OH: 61%
OK: 74%
So, yes, better, but still not what I’d call good.
The conclusion of the LA Times piece, which is pretty compelling stuff from Timothy Stewart-Winter (who is the James C. Hormel Fellow in Lesbian and Gay Studies at the University of Chicago, I’m told), “opposition to gay rights takes culturally specific forms, and Capehart was right, of course, that there is “a homophobia problem in the black community.” But it’s no worse than the homophobia problem in America that belongs to all of us.” In America, that’s undeniable - but in California, I think you’d have to say it *is* worse, on the basis of these exit polls, no?
November 7th, 2008 at 9:45 am