I added this e-mail from Kate Kendall from NCLR which refutes some of what appears to be inflated figures on the Yes on 8 vote in terms of the African American Community. News reports kept saying 70% votes Yes, where as the newer account states
it at 57 %. Not how how these figures were determined but it still is seems to be an issue for me. A few points could have made the difference and 57% as opposed to 49% in the white community is a big difference. On the other hand, I do not believe we should scapegoat or lay blame on a whole group of people just because the majority ( significantly more than half i.e 57% are against us.getting married, maybe I wrote right the first time against us. I do think it means we should work harder to educate
African Americans who are against us and us better strategies to win us over. If there is blame, it should be directed at the campaign insiders of the No on 8 movers and shakers.
Sharon Raphael
"Dear Sharon:
This has been a very trying, challenging, and exhilarating 10 days. We have witnessed history that raises our hopes and defeats which almost crush our spirit. The reaction to the passage of Prop 8, and other anti-LGBT measures in Florida, Arkansas, and Arizona has been unlike anything we have ever seen in our community. The energy and commitment and vow to fight on has been awe-inspiring. In the midst of these rallies and marches—tomorrow there will be over 130 across the country—we have come back from these defeats resolved to make them a relic of the past.
In the midst of these rallies and marches, there have also been a handful of acts that can only set us further back. The most powerful antidote to hate and misunderstanding is love and compassion and dignity. The attached letter has been generated from colleagues around California. It calls on all of us to indeed fight back, to not slink away and accept these defeats, but it also, rightly, calls on us to not, in our anger or pain, drive a wedge between our future allies. The scapegoating of African-Americans in particular, has the potential to do us real damage in the long run. A sad fact is that the often-quot ed number of 70%—the figure by which black voters passed Prop 8—is terribly exaggerated and the figure is likely much closer to 57%, which is consistent with all earlier polling. We are charting a course to a new day—if we show who we really are, we will have many more on that path with us." Kate Kendall. NCLR
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- "With more than 90 percent of the votes counted in California, the proposition to ban same-sex marriage was winning 52 to 48 percent."
As a Lesbian who married my spouse for the second time Aug. 24th 2008 (the first one was voided) , I am disappointed that Prop. 8 the proposition to ban Gay Marriage looks like it is winning. It made Obama's victory bittersweet for me as it turns out because of the large turnout of Black voters 70% voted for prop. 8 against Gay Marriage which made the difference in the outcome of the vote. I am sure the Gay community voted for Obama in large numbers probably way over 80%, The fact he won is historic and right. The fact we are losing the right to marry is bad news for us. Clinton sent a robo message that we got saying Vote No on 8. If Obama had also sent a message, it might have made the difference but of course, there was no way that was going to happen. I wonder if it ever will. My spouse Mina cried when she realized we had lost. I was more stoic. Lambda Legal has asked us to be part of a lawsuit one of many that will be created to try to overturn the new ruling which would go explicitly into the State Constitution banning marriage between two people of the same sex , not allowing Gay Marriage. We have a sign outside our house saying No on 8, Equality for All. It really hit me what that means for the first time tonight. It is not for
all now, not for us. As Robin Tyler, the Lesbian comedian put it, "the public cared more for the chickens than us. " I voted yes on 2 and am glad the chickens, pigs, other livestock will hopefully be helped. But yes it is definitely ironic. The final vote is still being tallied. There are several million votes outstanding and the yes on 8 are almost 4 pts. ahead but supposedly the gap is getting smaller. This may be wishful thinking.
Years ago when my spouse Mina Meyer and I worked on the No on Briggs campaign which tried to fire LGBT school teachers,
we joined a group called Jews Against Briggs. With that group we gave speeches against the Briggs campaign in several dozen temples and synagogues around the LA area in an attempt to reach the Jewish community and get their support fighting the Briggs Initiative. It worked and though we weren't the only ones responsible for our victory I am convinced our efforts were significant. It is my opinion that the same approach should have been used in attempting to reach the Black Churches that we could and in spreading the word using our own LGBT African American brethern and sisterhood. We missed a bet on this one.
I also felt the ads on our side were just not strong enough and not explanatory enough. Some say we should have directed the ads toward the issue of not changing the State Constitution to be discriminatory, emphasizing keeping it as it. There was just something missing in the ad campaign. I think it was us Gay people. Our voices were just not there. Where was Ellen De Generes's voice and all the other entertainers who are us. Those voices were just not loud and clear enough. Hindsight is easy and I know we tried and the vote count is not even done but hopefully we aren't done at all. Given all the protests I am seeing and hearing especially in California, I see victory not far from now albeit a legal one.
Sharon Raphael
