Obama Surge Confounds Gay Marriage

[cboy4]

I hope times are changing.

All of my friends of color, and I have many, are all opposed to Prop 8 (so far as I know and they tell me)....so I don't know what to think about this article. :shrug:

Minority Voters, Often Social Conservatives, Could Support Calif. Gay Marriage Ban

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Oct. 28, 2008

In 2003, Rev. Roland Stringfellow, who had served as pastor of a fundamentalist Baptist church in Indiana for a decade, resigned quietly rather than face his African-American congregation and explain that he was a gay black man.

"At that time, the best thing was not to proclaim it," Stringfellow told ABCNews.com. "When it comes down to being a black man, oftentimes we are forced to make a decision, 'Is my community or family more important than my own well-being?' We choose to live in silence and play the role, living on the down low."

Today, 39, and living in San Francisco, Stringfellow belongs to a more socially liberal church and hopes to be married one day. He is openly fighting California's Proposition 8 - a ballot initiative to outlaw recently legalized gay marriage - and cultural prejudices in his own community.

But Stringfellow's views may not be typical of most minorities in California, who could hold the key to the future of gay marriage in the most populous state in the nation. If passed, it will amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

In this historic presidential election year, political observers say high voter turnout for Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama -- who is predicted to draw record numbers of church-going African Americans and Latinos -- may spell the demise of legal gay marriage in California.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6124148&page=1

[msongs]

1. obama does NOT support gay marriage, he believes states have the right to deny it and

by leaving it to the states to decide("states rights").

Msongs

[LibDemAlways]

2. Prop 8 has really been a lightning rod for

homophobes and church types who are convinced gay marriage means the end of civilization. Obama is officially against gay marriage, too, so no help there. (Not that I would expect him to take a stand since he's not a California voter. )

Ultimately, it will come down to whether voters can see this for what it is - an equality issue. Denying adults the right to marry whom they choose violates the constitution. That ought to be grounds enough to defeat the measure.

[marmar]

3. The influence of the church (and its attendant dogma) are much heavier.....

.... in the African-American and Latino communities (and that's just my unqualified, take-it-for-what-it's-worth opinion as a straight African American man who supports same-sex marriage).

It will take some time, but eventually it will fade. The church always has a bigger influence in communities where poverty is greater, access to education is poorer etc etc. But I also know that more than a few people will publicly be against same-sex marriage because of social and religious pressure, but privately be in support of it.

I really hope that some prominent black or Latino congregation (other than the Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco) will come out in a public show of support. It's been mostly limited to celebrities such as Mary J. Blige and Patti LaBelle etc up to this point.