Gay rights, Prop 8 and the Black vote

My friends and I still break into big smiles over Obama's election. But we're also wondering what happened in California, where Proposition 8 proposed to ban gay marriage and won by 52% of the statewide vote. That's a pretty close vote. Some say that the Black vote could have made the difference and that African Americans did not stand up for the civil rights of others. Some gay folks are just plain pissed off. I waded through the data and I've drawn 4 conclusions.

1. Prop 8 won because California is a red, conservative state. 82% of White Republicans and 85% of all conservatives voted for Prop 8. Conservatives were 30% of the vote. Even moderates (44% of the vote) had only a slight majority (53%) for gay right to marriage. The stereotype of California as liberal is not real. California has been a Republican, conservative state since the Reagan years.

2. Racial politics doesn't really explain this vote. A large majority of Blacks (70%) voted against gay right to marriage. The Root's Kai Wright makes a strong case that anti-gay attitudes are doing terrible harm to the Black community. But African Americans were only 10% of the total California vote. There just aren't enough African Americans in California to determine the outcome of this vote. Whites made up 63% of total votes, significantly more than their percentage of the population, but had only a very slight majority (51%) for gay right to marriage.

You can skip to my conclusion #3 or read the CNN exit poll, statewide break down here. Remember "yes" means "ban gay marriage in California."

All Men: 53% Yes (46% of the total vote)
All Women: 52% Yes (54% of the total vote)

White Men: 51% Yes (31% of total)
White Women: 53% Yes (32% of total)
All Whites: 49% Yes (63% of the total, 51% for gay right to marriage)

Latino Men: 54% Yes (8% of total)
Latino Women: 52% Yes (11% of total)
All Latinos: 53% Yes (18% of total vote)

Black men: N/A
Black women: 75%, (6% of total vote)
All African Americans: 70% (10% of total vote, strong majority against gay marriage)

All Asians: 49% Yes (6% of total vote, 51% for gay right to marriage)

All other: 51% Yes (9% of total)

So it was very close in all groups, except African Americans. But there just aren't enough African Americans in California to determine the outcome of this vote. Shanikka breaks down the population.

African Americans are 13% of the national population but only 6% of the entire California population and the percentage is falling. The California population breakdown is:

43.1% non-Hispanic whites
35.9% Latinos
12.4% Asians
6.2% Black


3. Judging by the California vote, the debate about the right to gay marriage divides Americans by age, education, political identity and religion at least as much as it divides by race. Supporters of the right of gays to marry are young, well-educated, liberal-minded, optimistic about race relations and optimistic about an Obama presidency. People who are not church goers or do not identify with any particular religion are overwhelmingly (90%) in support of the right of gays to marry.

Again, read details from the CNN poll here or skip to #4. The following groups voted no on Prop 8, meaning they voted for gay right to marriage:

People with post-graduate degrees (60% voted no)
People who strongly disapprove of the war in Iraq (60% voted no)
People who disapprove of Bush and believe McCain would continue his policies (60-65%)
18-29 year olds (61%)
First-time voters (62%)
People who believe race relations are going to get much better (61-64%)
Democrats (64%)
Unmarried people (64%)
People who felt excited or optimistic about the possibility of Obama's election (60-63%).
People who felt scared by the prospect of McCain's election (66%)
People who live in the San Francisco Bay Area (66%)
People who voted for Obama (68%)
People who also oppose off-shore drilling (68%)
People who think Obama's positions are "about right" (69%)
Liberals (78%)
White Democrats (79%)
People who are not church-goers (83%) or identify as "no religion" (90%)


4. Blaming Blacks for not standing up for the civil rights of gays is just confusing the issue. On Nov. 4th Arizona, California and Florida all banned gay marriage. Arkansas banned gay couples from adopting children. Did the Black vote lose the battle in all of these states? Is it so surprising that these bans pass in a few politically conservative states?

Let's keep the argument straight. This is a simple, national civil rights issue. It is so because our society uses marriage as a legal mechanism to gain a set of fundamental rights that every American couple or family needs. We could decide to nationally recognize civil unions as the way to access couple and family rights, letting churches do whatever they want and letting people choose church marriages if they want. Most European nations did this over the past decade. Or we can allow gay couples to marry. If we do neither, we are denying basic civil rights to Americans on the basis of discrimination.

Some of the leaders of the Black civil rights movement of the 1950-70s are very eloquent and clear on this.

Coretta Scott King: "Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing, and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."

John Lewis: "In 1948, when I was 8 years old, 30 states had bans on interracial marriage, courts had upheld the bans many times, and 90 percent of the public disapproved of those marriages, saying they were against the definition of marriage, against God's law. But that year, the California Supreme Court became the first court in America to strike down such a ban. ...We hurt our fellow citizens and our community when we deny gay people civil marriage and its protections and responsibilities."

Mildred Loving: "Not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the 'wrong kind of person' for me to marry. ...I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about."

Don't know who she is? The 1967 case of Loving vs. Virginia overturned state law against mixed race marriage.