California voters have for the third time voted to ban the ability of same-sex couples to engage in marriage in our state. On Tuesday I applauded those votes and today I am outraged at the California GLBT movement and many of its supporters. To be upfront not all of them should deserve this rage but the leaders and the media are prompting a backlash from our community the likes they can’t imagine.
In the darkest days of the depression blacks turned out in large numbers and voted to elect and reelect President Franklin Roosevelt. We did so because our people knew on issues of economic and national security he was right for us. We never demanded and in fact never received support in exchange of our votes from the disability community.
In the racial biting days that lead to the election of President John F. Kennedy blacks in the north and those registered in the south gave large numbers of their ballots to the first Catholic ever to hold the high office. We hoped for the support from Catholic leaders and other elders in the church but it never came and we never blamed them for it. Instead our civil rights leaders fought hard and some even died keeping the President’s foot to the fire on civil rights.
Today many hard working members of the GLBT movement worked hard to elect America’s first black President knowing opposition to gay marriage in America. In fact they even knew the candidate they supported opposed gay marriage. However despite that position millions of people in this community turned to Barack Obama and elected him while they also saw their ability to get married blocked by voters in Arizona, California, and Florida. One has to admit and understand their disappointment with the outcome of these decisions, but their race baiting sense of entitlement to others Prop 8 vote (in CA) is a joke.
I backed and advocated for Prop 8 but not excitedly. I was and remain today outraged by the California State Supreme Court that months before said that the city of San Francisco had acted unconstitutionally in awarding marriage certificates, reversed themselves and overturned two voter approved propositions blocking gay marriage.
My faith tells me that God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman. My faith teaches that man shall not lie with man as he lies with woman. These are my deeply held beliefs and that of many African Americans. In even the hardest hit communities our church is the bedrock to what we seek to aspire to do and be. The campaign to enact a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was aware of this ideal and actively reached out to our people and earned their votes. The No on 8 campaign much like many in the liberal and left of the Democratic Party appeared ready to take our votes for granted. This was the result.
African Americans in this nation are historically more conservative than our leading party. We are more pro-life and anti-gay marriage than the party we elect to represent us. Our communities and our real leaders have spoken out against abortion and what some call the curbing of family values. For many African-Americans we are fighting a war to stabilize our families and communities. We are battling hard to ensure all of our children have a father and a mother. A family unit is seen as the best way for ridding our families of the challenges we face more than any other community. The No on 8 Campaign failed to present answers or alternatives to these concerns to our community. In fact the outreach to the black communities around the state of California can be described as limited and far between.
To my friends on the opposing side in this campaign you lost. This doesn’t make the possibility for a different future but it sends a clear message. Our votes are not to be taken for granted. To win our votes you have to speak to our values.
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