The Broken Telegraph

Photo credit: Barbara Davidson, Los Angeles Times

by Brian Robinson

Well, that didn’t last long. On the day after we elected our first African-American president, which gave the nation a shot of badly needed self-respect and the warm feeling of accomplishment that we’ve gotten over a collective hurdle, comes the bracing sting of cold water thrown in the face of black Californians. The word “Nigger” is flung about like so much cow dung at the same targets as usual, but by a brand new group of people: California Gays. (Although to be even more specific, I guess I have to say “White” Californian Gays but, you get the idea.)

On November 5th California voted on a State Initiative called “Proposition 8″. This amazingly well written proposition (insert sarcasm) sought to amend the State Constitution to define marriage between a man and a woman to stop homosexuals from entering into it. Some people were mighty angry because earlier in the year, the California Supreme Court looked at a previous proposition (numbered 22) and found that there is NO provision within the state’s constitution that allowed for such parsing.

Many of those angry people were from out of California. Utah, and it’s Mormon Church headquarters, along with the Knights of Columbus (huh?!) were mad enough that they pumped millions of dollars into the “Yes on 8″ campaign. I think that the opposition was so confident that Californians would remain ahead of the curve and they didn’t exactly set any fund-raising records — until the race was almost over. There were frantic efforts the past two or three weeks to get people to contribute to the “No on 8″ effort. But, it was too little too late and the damn thing passed.

So, some of the numbers coming out of exit polls that night were breaking down which minority groups voted in what percentages. One poll declared most of them seemed to have voted pretty much 50-50. But, for black Californians it was more like 70% for and 30% against. And based on this ONE poll, it suddenly seemed that the failure of the proposition was laid at the collective feet of black Californians. Alongside Utah Mormons, we were placed on the Most Wanted list tied for first place. (Finally, we are first place on somebody’s list, and its still a tie! Damn!)

Let me say, though, that I don’t doubt that 70% number is close to the mark. Black Americans, for all of our civil activism and so-called liberalism via the Democratic Party, are very socially conservative. Black people in this country seem to be very wary of anything that has the whiff of “immorality”. Why is homosexuality “immoral”? Because the church says it is. For many church-going blacks, that’s good enough for them. You will find many blacks that will argue with the line about how the Bible says homosexuality is a sin. Well, the Bible also tacitly approves of slavery, but you don’t see us lining up for that to be put back into practice here. Obviously, there are contradictions galore in this religiously based argument. Also, American blacks seem to have a defensiveness about the Civil Rights movement that is very myopic and narrow-minded. Another common complaint amongst blacks is that the “Gay movement is nothing like the Black movement — I can’t hide my blackness and I can’t choose to not be black.” This is a very thin argument to use when trying to justify marginalizing another group and codifying behavior. Whether you can look at someone and determine their sexuality is a red herring in this argument and doesn’t deserve the foundation it gets when this issue is discussed.

(article continues below photo)

Those for and against the proposition share the street.

I am not religiously active. At best, I guess I would be termed an Agnostic. I don’t find it possible that any religion gets it right. I think “The Truth” is meant to be and will always be illusive as long as we live. I value the idea and active search of the divine, but very much from a philosophical point of view. I want to be clear that I am not supportive of any religious text/concept/teaching that would deny any group in this country freedom and full membership as an American. Born here in the US? One or both of your parents American? Come in through legal means? Welcome aboard. That’s the way we’ve set it up and that’s the way it is. At least until some new State Initiative challenges that!

This cannot be a religious issue. To beat that reliably dead horse: we have a separation of church and state our society. There is this fear around the word “marriage” and how allowing gays to participate in that will somehow affect heterosexual unions; I have yet to hear a reasonable, real world way in which that would happen. That being said, this is a civil matter, not a religious one. We, as a matter of state, do not grant marriage licenses based on religious affiliation. Agnostics, atheists, heck even UNITARIANS can get a license to marry once the fee is paid. (Humor intended…please direct angry Unitarian issue emails directly to Ian.)

That being said, I do have to add within any given church, I do not advocate assailing them for their rules or tenants that they advocate for their own members. If a particular church, mosque or temple wishes to not support a specific marriage within their own walls, so be it. They just have no right in our society to make that decision for non-members of their religion. Again, marriage is not fundamentally a religious covenant; it was religious organizations that decided to create covenants around something that was initially a civil, contractual agreement. People were making contracts with each other to spend their lives together prior to religions bringing it into their fold. But without the label of “marriage”, those in civil unions have fewer rights once their partner expires. Can you imagine your husband’s or wife’s belongings and final wishes being co-opted by the wishes of a third cousin over you, the “civil partner”?

Soon after the vote was made final and the measure was approved, I began to hear some very disheartening things being said. I heard two different Black hosts on two different radio shows essentially state that “gays should just accept Civil Unions because their wanting marriage is very scary to a lot of people.” Well, in no uncertain terms: too bad. Be scared. Using the constitution of the state or the Federal government to legislate your comfort is putrid. Deal with your fear in your own mind, not in the public courts or Initiative system. It wasn’t very long ago that Miscegenation Laws were in place to keep the races from intermarrying, and you can bet there was some fear on the part of whites to have supported those disgusting laws. Should blacks have simply accepted the “Separate but Equal” doctrine and not pursue full citizenship in America? Of course not, and I am ashamed to have to point that out to those that don’t see the correlation.

(article continues below photo)

Prop. 8 protests turn ugly. Photo credit: Rick Loomis, Los Angeles Times

So, its been a long road back to my original point, but here it is: I am also shocked to have heard reports of protesters of the measure screaming “Nigger” during the protest that occurred in Los Angeles the day after the measure passed. Now, I don’t think it was a group rallying cry or something they wrote on placards. But, I find it just as odious that any gay person would allow themselves to be as hateful as that. Again, just as they would argue about blacks, how can one oppressed group member be interested in hateful, racist action like that!? Its sickeningly ironic that people armed with signs that say “No on Prop H8″ and “Love, not Prop H8″ would sink to such gutter tactics. Really, be more creative in your ironic hate speech, please.

During the Presidential campaign, it was said that blacks would riot if Obama lost. It was also predicted that whites would riot if Obama won. The “Race War” was simmering, and you had better be ready for Armageddon on November 5th. Well, obviously it didn’t happen, and I never expected it to. But I also never expected that I would be defending myself as a straight Black man who voted against Proposition 8. Didn’t please the Blacks. Didn’t please the Gays. I only seemed to please myself and the idea of Equality.

**

Editor’s note: Please take a moment to read about this site. It addresses the issue of potentially controversial content within the broader context of The Broken Telegraph.