It must be said that the District is a special case--it's a majority black municipality, that happens to have a long history of social liberalism. This does not mean that it is absent homophobia, as much as it means that you have people there (many of them black) who've been fighting for gay rights for decades. Given D.C.'s makeup, it's very hard to wage that fight and not engage, on some level, with black people.In Washington, D.C., the anti-gay-rights movement attempted to put recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states to a citywide referendum (it was rejected by the Board of Elections and Ethics) hoping that the city's mostly black population would come out against it. This dynamic may explain why Bishop Harry Jackson, an African American religious leader, has been put forth as the face of the anti-gay-marriage movement.
There's only one problem: The face of LGBT leadership in D.C. is often black. Nationally, anti-gay-rights activists have had a great deal of success in encouraging black voters to oppose gay rights, partially because LGBT rights are seen -- incorrectly -- as a "white issue." But in Washington, D.C., the diverse composition of the marriage-equality movement means that marriage-equality activists don't have to "reach out" to the black community, because they're already part of it. That doesn't mean marriage-equality activists don't face serious obstacles in garnering support among African Americans, but it makes racial divisions harder to exploit. The lesson is clear -- when the marriage-equality movement is integrated, outreach becomes less of an issue.
Regrettably, I can't think of anywhere else like D.C. Atlanta, perhaps? But I don't see gay marriage coming to Georgia for another decade, at least.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
National LGBT leadership needs to engage with these people and tell the community that African Americans, and African American churches are *not* anti-gay.
Interestingly enough Atlanta has one of the largest gay communities in the United States. But, you're right, hell might freeze over before Georgia passes a gay marriage law. Right now they are more focused on stripping birthright citizenship and supporting the death penalty in the case of innocent men. It is a serious land before time kind of place as compared to other major metropolitans.
Yeah, it's sad. I thought Atl would be a good place, precisely, because of the reasons you mentioned. Plus there's a large black gay pop. I think that always changes the alchemy. I wish it weren't so, but it is...
I agree that there are all kinds of progressive voices in the black community doing great things for gay rights, but my question is how do you outreach to the people in the following clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhedHERfcXk
What language do you employ? What approach do you take? Especially given that the people in this clip believe, like white supremacists that they are doing WHAT. IS. RIGHT. In all capital letters.
Perhaps the clip is an extreme, but when I was growing up in Detroit, which is a gay, gay city just in terms of population, I felt the fervor contained in this video many Sundays at church and just in the air culturally. The problem I always saw was that there were many people who were gay but ultimately saw it as a personal aberration. There were also people who would identify as gay but still wouldn't support issues relative to gay rights. I think there is a deep self-hatred there - so how do you reach that population? I think it's larger than we think.
I heard Atlanta is second only to San Francisco in gay population in the US, yet I think Midtown is as close to a "gay neighborhood" as it gets, and it's generally white AFAIK. But I'm hardly an expert on Atlanta's gay community. I wonder how the large percentage of the city's residents that are non-native, and ended up here because it's a business and Delta hub, or whatever other reason, affects that dynamic. Certainly DC's got that going on, as well.
I shouldn't be talking about Atlanta as if I know; I've only lived here a year and am moving away in a few weeks.
Personally, I'm not interested in correcting everybody's precious homophobia. It is not right, but it is a hateful obsession that religious organizations love. However, personal opinions, and morals, lack power. The law has the power to protect us from the reckless hate, and homophobia, espoused by some contemporary religions.
Below is a link to where my faith rests. Marriage equality may resume in California on July 2, 2009 if an injunction is granted against proposition 8.
http://lawdork.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/perryvschwarzenegger.pdf
http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/city_attorney/cases/PROP8-USDIST-AMICUS.PDF
The haters/homophobes will be free to continue their wicked practices, but they will be powerless, and toothless! They've crossed the line, and we're fighting back!
DC is a special case, but I think Serwer's point is still well-taken: integration of the marriage-equality movement would be a positive development for outreach. I imagine, for example, that in Southern California, there is a sizable population of non-white gays and lesbians, and that's probably somewhat true in most major metro areas.
I'm not saying it's easy, or that non-white gays have an inherent responsibility to lead movements just to diversify them. But I think plenty of people exist who could be brought into the movement, just to give it a more diverse face. It's up to the leadership to find ways to reach out so that marriage equality cannot be seen as a white issue.
Agreed. I think the leadership of the gay rights movement can either make racial politics less easy to use or more easy to use. Integrating the movement, both rank and file and leadership, seems the surest way to neutralize racial wedging as a successful political tactic.
I imagine, for example, that in Southern California, there is a sizable population of non-white gays and lesbians, and that's probably somewhat true in most major metro areas.
The Williams Institute at LA has been looking at census data about same-sex couples. One of the difficulties is that the couples tend not to be listed by composition, but instead only the racial/ethnic identity of individuals in same-sex couples is measured. What they find, (nationally and here in MA--I haven't looked at the CA numbers) is that the percentage of people of color is higher in same-sex couples than it is in married different-sex couples. (it tends to be, at least in MA as I recall, higher percentages of Latinos--and somewhat lower percentages of white folks.).
I hope that makes sense.
Do you mean that there are more nonwhite cohabitating gay couples than nonwhite cohabitating married couples in those metro areas you have seen data on?
No. I mean that the percentage of people of color in same-sex couples is higher than the percentage of people of color in different-sex marriages. There is only individual-level data. So, we might surmise that there are higher levels of intraracial coupling among same-sex couples of color than among married couples, or we might surmise that there are higher percentages of interracial couples, it's hard to tell directly from the data (there aren't couple-level data dealing with racial/ethnic composition). I'd guess the latter, to be honest.
For my observations in South Florida, there are --proportionally- much more gay couples in which the partners are from different races/elasticities than in the whole population. But this relates much more to Whites, Hispanics and Asians than to Blacks, I think.
I'm grew up near ATL. and the situation is different. Although the gay poulation is large, vibrant, and relatively old (eg. Morehouse has been 30% or more gay since its founding), it's not a major political force in the city. I'm not sure what the reasons are for this, but I suspect that the he threat of state-sanctioned repression in the form of aggressive anti-gay legislation has been a major factor in inhibiting the political growth of the gay rights movement across the south, even in it's flagship city. There are just not enough gay people in ATL. to overwhelm or persuade the entrenched and virulent Christian right political culture of the metropolitan area. Unlike Chicago, where I now live, or NY or DC the Atl metro area is mostly suburbs and the suburban residents are unabashed in their intolerance. Really. Sometimes the prevalence of confederate flags, bigoted bumper sticker slogans, and even, on a few occasions KKK t-shirts takes me aback when I return for visits. These overt signs do not often prevade the city proper, but that is actually only a small part of the metropolitan area. Honestly, I think Midtown is allowed to be a kind of boystown precisely because it's seen as social (and economic) and avowedly apolitical.
I love the south, but gay rights are a long way from getting purchase there. A majority of the folks down there actually feel deeply under seige, downright beleaguered by the very idea that homosexuality might not be an "abomination", that the wages of whiteness ought not pay dividens, that taxes should be taken up at all, and that not subsuming all the winter holidays under the mantle "Christmas" is a major cultural betrayal.
It is all on the numbers. DC and Atlanta not just have big numbers of AA but also big numbers of middle class AA. Walk in either city or take the DC subway and it is so different compared to say, Miami or Fort Lauderdale. I believe those numbers make possible to create a gay community --we are so few as a percentage of pop. Once there is a gay comm. gays and lesbians can take refuge on it and become more visible. Visibility leads to more acceptance. More acceptance leads to more people coming out etc.
As far as GA, I think Atlanta and the state will continue to grow apart. I am also hopeful about the suburbs. I visit some relatives in Grayson every year and for what I have seen there is a lot of diversity there too. All kinds of people from all kind of places. My cousin's friends from childhood is a very diverse bunch. She is in her forties, so...
Georgia could surprise us. The thing about gayness is that it isn't, as you said a "white" thing. There are gay liberals and gay conservatives, and gay Christians and gay Buddhists and gay atheists and gay Northerners and gay Southerners. It's us, all of us.
When you come down to it, I think the people of Georgia will realize that the gay couple next door that has great barbecues and keeps their property really well cared for, are far better neighbors than the hetero couple that plays loud music late at night and never mows the lawn. Especially if the gay guys next door complain about those damn Yankee liberals just as much as you do.
I can't speak for you, but I don't want to watch my neighbors having sex, whether they are straight or gay, so what's the big deal?
One of the things I worry about in your statement is this idea that gay people have to be better than straight people; smarter, nicer, cleaner, more talented, for straight people to accept them. Like sometimes gay people are just fundamentally different personality wise than straight people and it often has to do a lot with the experience of repression. I really appreciate your supportive statements but to try to paint all gay couples as boring and heteronormative just isn't accurate.
Heteronormative is a great word. I can't accept the notion that for gay marriage to exist, gay couples have to be the same as straight couples. My girlfriend is from CT - she claims that gay marriage is a non-issue there because most married gay couples in CT are no different from the straight couples next door. And she also claims that after also living in New York, Toronto and now San Francisco (but never in the suburbs), I have a skewed view of gay people's lives.
I think I am essentially arguing against the Andrew Sullivan line ("virtually normal") and in favor of "queerness"...
Oakland...large gay community, large black community, lots of overlap. We've got one openly gay city council member - Jewish woman, who built a lot of support through the local Obama networks.
All true but who is the openly gay city council member? Is it Brunner or Nadel?
I didn't know this.
Rebecca Kaplan - just got elected last November.
Incidentally, Kaplan was running at-large, not district.
Atlanta can't even secure funding for MARTA, how will the city ever manage gay rights? DeKalb Co, the largest/most populous county in GA, has been systematically undermined in the state legislature for years. Most recently, conservative legislators in more rural parts of the state assisted a wealthy enclave within DeKalb to secede from the county. They did this to weaken the county's tax base and dilute its progressive clout. Folks in the hinterland hate us - hence the votes in the state legislature to weaken mass transit, weaken the votes of minorities thru voter ID laws, etc. I would say that it's best to write GA off and move along, but it's not. In 2008 Saxby Chambliss was forced into a run-off on the strength of the Obama vote. Each year more moderate transplants move to Atlanta. There are two Georgias, Atlanta and the rest. Folks can turn this around, but it'll require paying a bit more attention to municipal, county level politics. If NC can turn, so can GA. But turning it around requires building a culture of civic involvement and fostering a culture of evidence, a culture of evidence that's largely lacking in society. Take for instance the case of Michael Jackson. Many are willing to assume out of hand, and on the most flimsy pieces of evidence and hearsay, that he was a child molester. A simple glance at the facts, however, will absolve him of any guilt in the matter. Similar to the way that a quick review of legislative issues facing GA would and should lead any concerned citizen of ATL to get involved in municipal, county wide issues. We're so close to turning things around, so I'm hesitant to completely turn my back on Atlanta.
I'd add Athens to that as well. And maybe a few little towns like Eatonton here and there.
I agree with the two Georgias comment to a degree. Yes, outside of the Atlanta perimeter Georgia is stuck in the 60s when it comes to race relations and civil rights and dentistry. There are still segregated H.S. proms in Georgia.
BUT, let's not start calling ATL progressive by any stretch definition. This is still a highly self-segregated city that votes red down the line come election day and helps to fund Stone Mountain with its Fathers of the Confederacy Light Show. But, I'm with you, I live here, a NY Yankee in a mixed marriage with latino children, I continue to hope but your use of "so close" might be a tad overly optimistic. :P
Juba, very true. I'd add Savannah and Macon. And it's also wrong to write off the citizenry of most of the state. Most have no idea what their legislators do. My guess is that a poor chicken or peanut farmer doesn't really care what two dudes in ATL do on the weekend. But there's something weird about pols and their proclivity for pushing their noses into other people's junk and raising a ruckus. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you're black or white, or gay or straight. We're all just trying to get along. If we can establish a culture of evidence and show folks how vibrant (culturally and financially) some of our in-town communities are, I think it would go a long way to turning things around.
Also, many of our smaller rural communities would be perfect for gay settlement. Lots of funky antique stores, creepy gothic atmosphere, and a serious need for economic revitalization and culture. Everyone has a dandy uncle or two down here anyway - it's hard for me to see what the big deal is. The effeminate Southern man is as much a cultural staple as college football and BBQ pork.
Absolutely. Andre 3000 rocking an ascot had a long storied precedent among a lot of Southern gentlemen, to give an example.
But perhaps this is why so many Southerners are insecure about the issue?
Yes, but the Southern dandy is not identified with homosexuality, but instead a certain flamboyant Victorian-era derived style. Remember Andre 3000 may rock an ascot, but he doesn't get any shot about it because he's also Erykah Badu's baby daddy. The South is old fashioned that way -- like pre the creation of the category homosexual old-fashioned. You can be a fop, you can even diddle a boy, so long as you claim you were drunk when you did it and go home to your wife. Oscar Wilde style.
Good article. It's time America.
I recently officiated for 2 young women who came to CT to wed, and they brought their families too. Congratulations!
And more couples are coming to CT this summer from CA, VA, LA, and NY because they aren't allowed to wed in their own home states just yet...
And kudos to New England (sans RI) and Iowa too for supporting marriage equality and fairness.
Cheers, Joe Mustich, Justice of the Peace,
Washington, Connecticut
http://justicesofthepeace.blogspot.com
And for the marriage foes, please find something else to do with your time, money and talent, because life's too short. Find love.
And kudos to civil marriage.
New Orleans is also majority black (though less so since Katrina) and socially liberal.
Explains the Katrina response no?
PS.
The 2 women who came to CT to wed were from DC, and one of them is an attorney with Bois, Schiller and Flexner, the DC law firm that's challenging the Prop 8 ruling in CA.
Attornys Bois and Olson are working on the case and columnist Clarence Page had an interesting article about them recently.
Good luck Atlanta, and Georgia.
Joe Mustich, JP
Well, I'm glad to hear this, because you knew the lack of Black faces from the Gay community is what did in Prop 8 in the Black community.
I live in New Haven, CT. Many of the leaders of the gay rights movement here are African American. This isn't surprising given that the city itself is very close to majority african american. In general gay rights enjoy robust support in the city, more so than in the predominantly white suburbs. It would be hard for me to say whether more african americans vs. caucasians in the whole area are friendly to strong LGBT rights (full marriage/adoption equality and anti-discrimination laws), but if I had to pick, I'd say african americans are more so.
I have a similar experience within a wider context in my church (United Methodist). While the global church is still somewhat homophobic in doctrine, a fair number of churches in the New York annual conference are reconciling congregations (meaning we want the church to be fully open and affirming to LGBT people, and act that way ourselves to the extent that UMC polity allows). The New York annnual conference (the most important regional political unit of the church) is much more LGBT friendly than the church as a whole, and petitions every general conference on the issue to adopt a doctrine similar to the UCC. With the exception of a few churches serving African immigrant communities, most of the (many) predominantly African American congregations support this (as do most congregations in the conference). I've been a delegate or observer at many annual conferences when these petitions are debated, and there are just as many white anti-gay speakers as black if not more.
I just don't see a big difference between blacks and whites when it comes to gay rights on the whole. I think there may be some avaialability bias for people who think there is. White New Havenites are probably more LGBT friendly on average than the rest of the population of the city. But that's just the white folks who live in New Haven, who are generally a much more progressive bunch than those who live outside the city. You don't get that split in African American or immigrant populations, who are close to a majority in New Haven proper, but a rarity in the wealthier or more rural suburbs (where one is much more likely to find strong anti-gay sentiment than among any population in the city). African Americans in New Haven represent a pretty broad cross section of the African American population in the state in general, not a particularly liberal slice of it.
Anyway, I suspect that any city with an active gay community and a majority or near majority black population would look a lot like DC in this regard, and I can confirm that New Haven (and similarly Hartford) do.
GA and gay rights? It would be only used as a campaign hatred issue to insure higher white turnout.
However, it seems with the demographic shifts ( Gwinnett hispanic, Cobb has more minorites than ever before, Dekalb liberal etc..) that the attitude will change.. but it will take many years.
One thing though, with high gay population in ATL, Decatur etc. people who initially would be against gay rights/marriage more than likely have a friend or family member that is gay. That is where the change starts.. as how can you descriminate then against the ones you love?
One question I guess to ask.. is when would the churches such as the AME Church on Memorial, or even Ebenezer talk for rights for all instead of hatred towards gays?
Quick Question: Did anyone see the episode of "True Life", "I`m in an Interracial Relationship"? It featured two men in Baton Rouge, one was black the other white. After I got over the initial surprise of seeing a dude who looks like a hot gay version of Larry the Cable Guy making out with a large, bald, black guy, I was really struck by just how everyone else expressed their homophobia towards the couple. The guys were trying to rent an apartment together and essentially they would call real estate agents, then when it came to the question of who would be living there and how many bedrooms, and the real estate agent would brush them off with a "sorry honey we dont have anything available right now, thank you." Can you really expect southern states to grant marriage licenses to a couple that can't even be shown an apartment together?
I meant to say the homophobia was expressed very politely. It was almost more infuriating to watch people act woefully ignorant of the fact that these two men were a committed couple, ignore them, or brush them off than to see them have a slur yelled in their faces.
Oh LCrawfty ... you know what puts me in a super-cheerful mode? Remembering how hard things were 20, 15, even 10 years ago and how comparatively easier we have it today. It is just un-be-liv-able. Not to say that it will be easy that marriage equality comes to GA in the next 10, 15 years, but we have seen weirder things. Imagine if 10, 15 years ago someone would tell you that almost all of New England + Iowa would have marriage equality. Plus Canada and the Netherlands South Africa and oh boy, Spain that old country full of machos machos.
I`m very hopeful I just think at times it can be very difficult to discuss prejudice and bring about change in communities where either people A. do not want to think of themselves as prejudiced or B. Believe they are within the limits of acceptable behavior despite their prejudice. It's very similar to the situation that exists with race relations in Massachusetts and Boston. Boston has a checkered past when it comes to race relations but perceptions of equality and justice dating back to the Revolution make it very difficult to discuss racial tension at all.
I second that Eduardo. 10 years ago when I first came out the only gay person I remember on TV was Matthew Shepard. We have come a long way since then and I believe things can only get better.