Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal
The electoral battle over whether same-sex couples can marry is reaching its peak, and both campaigns are turning their attention to African Americans, particularly the churchgoing.
The rival campaigns on Proposition 8, which would take away the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry, have held competing events this week at historically black churches in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles in attempts to sway a critical bloc in a race that polls say is a toss-up, San Francisco Chronicle reports.
"I am not trying to rail against gay people; we have gay people in our music department," Ray Williams, pastor of the First Morning Star Baptist Church in Oakland, said at a pro-Prop. 8 rally in Oakland. "When you look at the people getting married in San Francisco, you didn't see very many blacks. It's not a distinct issue in the black community."
The Rev. Roland Stringfellow, a former Baptist minister who came out as gay and is now a member of the United Church of Christ, spoke at about the same time at a No on 8 gathering, also in Oakland.
"I do not believe Christ is teaching us to take rights away from people," said Stringfellow, who hopes to get married some day.
Two groups of African American ministers also held dueling lunchtime events in South Los Angeles on Tuesday to rally support for and against Proposition 8, Los Angeles Times reports.
Gathered in front of cheering schoolchildren who had been let out of class for the event, Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, who leads the 22,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center, urged his audience to "stand with God in saying the definition of marriage must not change."
He exhorted the faithful to pass the measure., "Marriage is between a man and a woman," he said.
Dozens of ministers joined Price at the sprawling Crenshaw Christian Center. They said they represent hundreds of thousands of congregants.
Expecting huge voter turnout, pro- and con- Prop. 8 campaigners reach out to California black churches [contd.]
A few miles away at Lucy Florence Cultural Center in Leimert Park, a much smaller group of ministers -- three, as it turned out -- spoke against the measure. Among their arguments: that African Americans, given their history of discrimination, should not be taking away rights.
"Same-gender marriage is a civil rights issue," the Rev. Eric Lee, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Council of Los Angeles, said at a recent event.
African American voters could play a crucial role in the fight over same-sex marriage. Though they make up only about 6% of the electorate in California, they are expected to vote in record numbers this election because of Barack Obama's presence on the ballot.
A perception that churchgoing African Americans are more socially conservative has frightened some - and encouraged others - that the high turnout will help lead to the passage of the ballot measure.
The Yes on 8 campaign is counting on them, arguing that some polls suggest African Americans are generally less open to same-sex unions than other groups, LA Times reports.
"They are our strongest supporters," said Frank Schubert, who is managing the Yes on 8 campaign.
Among likely black voters, 58% supported Proposition 8 compared with 38% who opposed it in the most recent Survey USA poll, Wall Street Journal reports. White voters were nearly evenly split. The reason, "Yes" officials say, is that church attendance is strong in many minority communities.
But opponents of the proposition say they think that black voters may be more tolerant than many political professionals predict.
"People have this impression that black people in general are more homophobic than the population as a whole," said Ron Buckmire, who heads the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, a black gay rights group in Los Angeles.
Both sides, meanwhile, are contending that Obama would approve of their view. That's because the first black presidential candidate of a major party has said that he is against Proposition 8 but has also expressed opposition to gay marriage.
"He said both sides. We are picking the one we like," said Derek McCoy, a minister who came from Washington, D.C., in August to organize African American clergy across the state to oppose the measure.
Standing on the lawn at the Crenshaw Christian Center, Nyesha Scott said she is thrilled to vote for Obama -- and is also firmly in favor of Proposition 8. "It's just wrong for gays and lesbians to marry," she said. "It's supposed to be a female and a male."
Demographic surveys of churchgoing African Americans reveal that the community is somewhat more inclined to restrict gay rights - but not as much as some think, the Chronicle reports.
In a survey of 35,000 Americans about religious beliefs conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 46 percent of those who attend historically African American churches believe that society should discourage homosexuality, while 40 percent believe that society should accept it. The survey didn't address the many African Americans who no longer attend historically black churches.
Those figures compare with the general U.S. population, in which only 40 percent believe that society should discourage homosexuality, the survey found. Those attending historically African American churches are far more accepting of gays and lesbians than white evangelicals or Mormons, who favor societal restrictions at rates of 64 and 68 percent, respectively.
Some of the conservative, largely white groups that are the primary supporters of the marriage equality ban are seeking alliances with black churches.
At a Tuesday pro-Prop. 8 rally at Foothill Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland, a largely black church, most of those gathered were white and Mormon, whose denomination is referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to the Chronicle.
"The LDS people are assisting us because they have more resources," Williams said.
Some Prop. 8 opponents, however, see the new alliances with black churches as going against the historical civil rights tradition of the black church. They see little difference between the old prohibition on interracial couples and taking away the right of marriage from gay couples.
"I'm one Baptist who refuses to be a bigot," said the Rev. Amos Brown, head of San Francisco's NAACP chapter and pastor at Third Baptist Church. "I am ashamed that African American faith leaders have been duped and conned by white evangelical fundamentalists.
"They are doing unto those who are different that which we didn't want done to us."
Outside First African Methodist Episcopal Church in the West Adams district of Los Angeles on a recent Sunday, meanwhile, many parishioners said they plan to vote against the measure, LA Times reports.
"The Bible says judge not, less ye be judged," said Archie Shackles, 55, a tenor in the First AME choir. "I have more important issues to deal with."
Source: Prop. 8 rivals seek support in black churches | San Francisco Chronicle
Black clergy both for and against gay marriage speak out | Los Angeles Times
Gay Marriage in Peril in California | Wall Street Journal