Gay is NOT “The New Black”!

Ron Buckmire, Ph.D.Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin CoalitionOccidental College

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Outline

Brief History of Marriage Equality The New Black Gay Proposition 8 Rehash Proposition 8 Aftermath Gay Is NOT the New Black Next Steps Q & A

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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A Brief History of Marriage Equality

Baehr v. Lewin, (Hawai’i, 1993) First State Supreme Court to rule “traditional

marriage laws” unconstitutional (plurality decision)

Federal Defense of Marriage Act Sec 1: No state has to recognize same-sex marriages Sec 2: Federal government prohibited from

recognizing SSM (Signed into law by Pres. Clinton Sep. 21, 1996)

Baehr v. Miike, (Hawai’i, 1997) Repealed in Nov. 1998 by Amendment 2

“The Legislature shall have the power to regulate marriage.”

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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History of Marriage Equality ’93-’10

Electoral Backlash Occurs Between 1998 and 2009 31 states vote on ballot

measures restricting marriage rights or relationship recognition (Score is 1-31; AZ voted twice)

California’s Proposition 22 passes March 7, 2000 62%-38% “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in California”

2006 AZ becomes first and only state to defeat an anti-gay ballot measure, 2008 AZ passes marriage-only ban

2008 Proposition 8 passes in California 52.3%-47.7% Courts start legalizing marriage equality

Massachusetts (2004) Connecticut, California (2008) Iowa (2009)

Legislatures start legalizing marriage equality Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, District of Columbia

(2009)

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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The New Black Gay: The Barbara Jordan/ Bayard Rustin Coalition Founded in Summer 2006 Only Black LGBT political advocacy

organization in Greater Los Angeles Major Achievements:

Maintained a paid staff (almost) continuously since 2007

Marched in 2009 & 2010 MLK Day Parade

Coordinated Grassroots African-American outreach against Proposition 8

Primary partner in convening a Multiracial LGBT Collective in Southern California, Q*POC-LA

Quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Advocate, Curve Magazine

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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The Barbara Jordan/ Bayard Rustin Coalition

Barbara Jordan (February 21, 1936-January 17, 1996)

1st African-American woman to be elected to Congress from a Southern State (Texas) in 1972

1st African-American woman to be elected to the Texas State Senate in 1968

Gave the Keynote Address at the 1972 Democratic National Convention

Unacknowledged lesbian, met partner Nancy Earl in late 1960s

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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The Barbara Jordan/ Bayard Rustin Coalition

Bayard Rustin (March 17, 1912- August 24, 1987)

Co-Organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Co-organizer of the very first Freedom Ride in 1947

Unofficial co-founder of CORE Known as Martin Luther King,

Jr.’s “right hand man” Pled guilty to a 1953 consensual

sodomy charge in Pasadena, CA Openly gay, Black, ex-

Communist Quaker!

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Proposition 8: Timeline

Spring 2005: CA LGBT community started preparing for another anti-gay marriage proposition

Late 2006: Let California Ring public education campaign launched

Spring 2007: The “Tripping Bride” Ad created October 2007: ProtectMarriage.com was approved to start

circulating petitions to collect signatures for an initiative constitutional amendment

March 2008: In Re Marriage Cases oral arguments before Cal Sup Ct

April 2008: Nearly 1.1 million signatures delivered to CA Secretary of State

May 15, 2008: CA Supreme Court issues In Re Marriage Cases decision

June 2, 2008: Proposition 8 certified for November 4, 2008 ballot June 15, 2008: same-sex couples start marrying in California

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Proposition 8: The Media War August 2008: Let California Ring

airs “Tripping Bride” ad constantly during Beijing Olympics TV coverage

September 2008: Let California Ring print and radio ads run in ethnic media outlets until the end of the month

September 22 2008: First NO ON 8 ad airs: “Don’t Eliminate Marriage For Anyone”

September 29 2008: First YES on 8 ad airs “Whether You Like It Or Not”

October 7 2008: Yes on 8 airs “Princes” ad

October 22 2008: No on 8 airs response to “Princes” ad

October 23 2008: Yes on 8 responds with “Truth”

October 30 2008: No on 8 ends the campaign with “Divisive” and “Discrimination”

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Proposition 8: Results

Certified Election Results on Proposition 8 Statewide

YES 7,001,084 (52.30%) NO 6,401,482 (47.70%) Margin: 599,602 (4.6%) Voter Turnout: 13,743,177 out of 17,304,091

(79.42%) Los Angeles County

YES 1,624,672 (50.04%) NO 1,622,287 (49.96%) Margin: 2,385 (0.08%) Turnout: 3,246,959 out of 4,111,642 (79%)

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Proposition 8 Aftermath: Black vs. Gay

CNN Exit Poll released days after the election showed that 70% of African Americans voted in favor of Proposition 8

Later revised down to 57-58% Yes vote by Black voters by an academic analysis in January 2009 (Egan & Sherrill)

Media narrative became centered on Blacks versus Gays (two marginalized groups fighting for scraps!) Between Nov. 4-Nov 18 I appeared in/on

The Los Angeles Times Good Morning America (Sunday) KABC-TV Local radio stations (KCRW-FM, KPFK-FM)

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Proposition 8 Aftermath: Gay Is The New Black(?)

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Why Gay is NOT ‘the new Black’

1. There are people who are both Black and Gay; Assuming Black and Gay are oppositional identities negates the intersection.

2. Although both communities have experienced identity-based discrimination, slavery (and its incidents) is simply not equivalent to what LGBT people have experienced (Clearly both groups do not enjoy full equality in America today)

3. The phrase “Gay is the new Black” and facile comparisons trivialize both the experience of Black people and LGBT people in this country and leads to the “Oppression Olympics” (Hancock, 2011)

4. To paraphrase Dan Savage, the gay rights movement is a civil rights movement but the movement for racial equality is the Civil Rights Movement.

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Next Steps Proposition 8 was struck down as unconstitutional by a

Federal judge in Perry v. Schwarzenegger on August 4, 2010

Appeal scheduled before 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set for Dec 6, 2010

Only other way to repeal Proposition 8 is through another statewide ballot measure (2012? 2014?)

Jordan/Rustin Coalition has started to receive funding to do testing of messages about marriage equality in the Black community in Los Angeles and build capacity

Recent polls show that majorities of Californians and Americans (nationwide) support equal marriage rights for all people (AP 52%-46% 9/2010; CNN 52%-46% 8/2010)

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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The Future!? Blogger Nate Silver

(fivethirtyeight.com) has looked at the 30 states that have voted to amend their constitution and done a regression analysis which shows that the most important factors are1. The year in which the

amendment was voted upon;

2. The percentage of adults in 2008 Gallup tracking surveys who said that religion was an important part of their daily lives;

3. The percentage of white evangelicals in the state.

When extrapolated into the future it shows the year in which a similar vote to ban gay marriage would fail in each state

September 30, 2010 "Gay Is NOT The New Black" L.A. Southwest College

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Thank You

Prof. Tamura Howard Oscar Cobian

Any questions?