The Los Angeles Times has a new poll out which shows that a majority of voters in Los Angeles County support marriage equality.
In the state's continuing political battles over gay marriage, both sides are targeting Latino voters, and a new Los Angeles Times poll illustrates why. Overall, the poll showed, a substantial majority of voters in Los Angeles support the right of same-sex couples to legally marry, with 56% in favor and 37% opposed.Oy vey. Black opposition to marriage equality "was widely seen as a major factor contibuting to the passage of Proposition 8"? Really? Only by people who believe in the zombie meme, which apparently includes Cathleen Decker of the Los Angeles Times.
That finding closely tracked the results of November's election in which Proposition 8, which limited marriage to unions of a man and a woman, won statewide but lost in Los Angeles. [MadProfessah Note, this is factually incorrect! Proposition 8 passed by less than 3,000 votes out of more than 3 million cast.] But the poll also showed that within the city, views on the issue differed widely among racial and ethnic groups.
White voters were most emphatic in their support for same-sex marriage, with 68% supporting it and 27% opposing. African American voters were strongly against it, with 54% opposing same-sex marriage and 37% supporting it.
Opposition to gay marriage by African Americans was widely seen as a major factor contributing to the passage of Proposition 8. Latinos in the current poll were split, with 45% supporting same-sex marriage and 46% opposing.
However, the important result here is hard data on the majority opposition to marriage equality among African Americans, which MadProfessah and others are fighting to change. Additionally, the knowledge that Latinos are basically evenly split on the question (the margin of error was given 2.6 percentage points) is also useful information.
What's left out? It's odd that the Times didn't include information of how Asian Pacific Islanders feel about marriage equality, especially in light of the success of API Equality in moving their community on this issue.
1 comment:
Many people who support marriage equality have taken the liberty to express their disappointment and disbelief that African Americans and Latinos could vote for Proposition 8. Such outrage is narrow-minded.
Having been discriminated because of race does not make one a gay rights activist, just as being a gay rights activist does not give somebody a solid understanding of the issues affecting communities of color.
People do not understand, or conveniently ignore the fact, that the gay rights movement in this country has, at the mainstream, largely been framed by whites and men. Do people not see how running a movement this way has a great capacity for shortsightedness?
The fact that African Americans and Latinos voted for Prop 8 in greater percentages than whites exposes the fact that that the No On 8 campaign was ineffective at reaching out to people of color.
One example recently identified by a radio host on KPFK’s Gay Day is just how clearly the No On 8 campaign’s advertisements targeted an audience assumed to be, at least aligned with the perspectives of, white middle class people. The host explained that a lot of advertisements could have targeted communities of color more effectively, with some minor modifications; the No On 8 campaign’s failure to do so was clearly evident in the results.
I speak Spanish and I can tell you I did not see as many No On 8 commercials in Spanish language programming and very few that addressed the issue in ways that Latinos could more easily digest. The Yes On 8 campaign was much more effective in Spanish, much to my dismay.
The poll results expose a racial divide in the gay rights movement, and the fault for this should not lie solely on the shoulders of people of color. The divide we face should not be taken as an opportunity to blame and criticize, to compare how oppressed one group is relative to another. Such focus is useless and further divisive.
The gay rights movement has much work to do towards including African Americans, Latinos, and other “minority” groups. This moment should be used as an opportunity for different groups to understand each other, to talk about multidimensionality, to have difficult conversations, and to forge an alliance that is more inclusive and ultimately more effective.
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