The Black-Gay Divide: A Clash of Race, Religion & Rights

As public opinion moves toward supporting gay rights, especially marriage equality, the African-American community has been slower to get on board. While polls show a slight majority of Americans favoring same-sex marriage, just 30 percent of non-Hispanic blacks do; 59 percent are opposed, according to a 2010 Pew Research survey.

There’s evidence that the divide between African-Americans and the gay community is narrowing, but activists say much more work needs to be done. More than three years after California voters approved Proposition 8, the referendum that banned same-sex marriage, bitterness within the gay community over African-American support of the measure remains.

Exit polls showed that as many as 70 percent of black voters supported the referendum. Much of the opposition to same-sex marriage came from African-American churches, which are very influential, although most of the funding dollars came from the Mormon and Roman Catholic churches.

In demonstrations after the November election, there were bitter words on both sides. Home videos showed at least one white gay protester using “the n word” on blacks in the street. Many gay Californians were especially angry that polls uniformly showed a good number of blacks splitting their vote in the Golden State: a gay-friendly liberal for president (not incidentally, a black man); but against gay marriage.
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