History in the Making, Obama Claims Victory
In Democratic Primary
By H. Alexander Robinson, President, NBJC Action Fund
Senator Barack Obama has secured the 2,118 delegates needed to become the first African American presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. His face and that of his wife Michelle now grace every newspaper and daily newsstand.
Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He served for eight years and ran for United States Senate in 2004. His speech at the Democratic National Convention that year brought America's attention to this political newcomer. He won the election easily over another African American and Republican Alan Keyes.
In the Illinois State Senate Obama built bridges across party lines. He supported gay rights sponsoring legislation that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and he gained a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood for his support of family planning and abortion rights legislation.
In the U.S. Senate, Obama scored 89 out of 100% on the 2006 Human Rights Campaign Congressional scorecard. He co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes perpetrated because of sexual orientation and gender identity. And he also supports the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Further, Obama believes we need to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. His campaign literature reads: "The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and willingness to serve". He also believes gays and lesbians should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexuals.
Although Barack Obama has said that he supports civil unions, he is against gay marriage. In an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, Obama said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."
Obama did vote against a Federal Marriage Amendment and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He said he would support civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, as well as letting individual states determine if marriage between gay and lesbian couples should be legalized.
Senator Obama's campaign has attracted young and educated voters--the same voters, according to recent polls, who overwhelmingly support gay marriage. Consequently some activists have suggested that an Obama presidential candidacy sets up the most favorable conditions for defeating the anti-gay California marriage initiative and that the fight over the ballot measure may also help Obama win the state of California in the fall.
However, it is also true that African Americans overwhelmingly support Senator Obama and are more likely than any other group to oppose marriage equality for gay families.
With 90 percent in most elections voting for Democrats, African-Americans are one of the most loyal parts of the Democratic base. At the same time, they differ from the rest of the party in terms of church attendance (more) and support for gay rights (less). Exit polling from the 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary, which John Edwards won, showed 72 percent of Blacks who voted attend church weekly, compared to 55 percent of all South Carolina Democrats and 37 percent of Democrats nationally who voted in the general election.
According to Washington Post-ABC News national surveys this year, 43 percent of White Democrats support marriage equality, compared to 22 percent of Blacks. Around half of blacks, 52 percent, do not support civil unions or gay marriage for gay couples, compared to only 26 percent of Whites.
The Obama campaign has faced this disparity before. In what was widely viewed as an effort to connect with Blacks in South Carolina, Obama decided to reach out by hosting a concert tour with gospel artists, including known homophobe and re-closeted homosexual Donnie McClurkin.
After much discussion within the campaign and conversations with the presidents of the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Coalition's Action Fund the campaign decided to go ahead with the concert as planned. The controversy dogged the campaign on blogs and LGBT list serves. However, LGBT support for Obama has been steady, growing, and significant and will likely continue to grow during the general election campaign.
Senator Obama has challenged Black America and Black religious leaders to address homophobia. He has said he believes that homophobia is helping fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African Americans.
Obama has pledged to construct and begin implementing "in the first year of his presidency ... a comprehensive, HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies". He has also pledged to support both syringe exchange programs and comprehensive sex education in schools, as well as to end the federal government's promotion of abstinence-only sex education. On treatment access, his AIDS platform declares his "strong support" for the Ryan White CARE Act, which is the primary vehicle for federal funding of the AIDS care safety net. Further, he has co-sponsored a bill to make Medicaid more accessible to people living with HIV.
Nevertheless, Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute has noted, "his platform's primary solution to the building AIDS treatment crisis in America is the broader health care reform he has proposed".
Wilson has said that, "While AIDS certainly must be addressed holistically, voters must insist Sen. Obama explain what he will do to ensure poor and uninsured people living with HIV/AIDS get access to life-saving treatment now, whether his broader reforms are passed or not."
As the campaign swings into full gear the attacks on Senator Obama's progressive stands on LGBT civil rights, marriage equality and HIV/AIDS are likely to be fodder for the right and his Republican opponent. As he campaigns in California his stance on marriage and civil unions will be hotly debated on both sides and every statement on the subject will likely be pared and dissected. However, during this long primary season he has demonstrated his capacity to respond to the challenges.
We will be watching, listening and hoping that the change that we as Black same gender loving people seek is delivered in November.
