Same-Sex Marriage: Religion, Race, and the Politics Debate

Introduction

Few social issues in the United States have been more controversial than same-sex marriage. The idea of two men or two women marrying in a legal context appalls certain cultural, religious, and ethnic groups, while other groups believe that sanctioning same-sex marriage is the just course of action and that it should be legalized to protect a couple's civil rights. This paper reviews pertinent literature regarding opposition to same-sex marriage among ethnic and religious groups, examines groups that support same-sex marriage, and explores the politics on both sides of the issue. It also addresses the bias against gay and lesbian people more broadly.

Homophobia and Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ Individuals

According to psychology professor Gregory M. Herek, writing in the Journal of Homosexuality, homophobia is a term used to describe "hostile reactions to lesbians and gay men" that implies a "unidimensional construct of attitudes as expressions of irrational fears" (Herek, 1984, p. 1). In other words, feelings of hatred toward gay and lesbian people are not grounded in rational thought. Herek breaks homophobia down into three social and psychological attitudes: (a) the experiential approach, based on previous interactions with homosexual persons; (b) the defensive position, in which a person copes with inner conflicts or anxieties by projecting them onto homosexual persons; and (c) symbolic homophobia, in which a person expresses an abstract ideological concept linked to one's sense of self and one's social networks and reference groups (Herek, p. 1).

In a 1989 article in American Psychologist, Herek explains that antigay hate crimes — words or actions meant to "harm or intimidate individuals because they are lesbian or gay" — have been experienced by a reported 92% of gay men and lesbians (Herek, 1989, p. 948). Up to 24% of lesbians and gay men have reported physical attacks specifically due to their sexual orientation. When the AIDS pandemic became a major public health concern in the 1980s, incidents of violent hate crimes perpetrated against gay men and lesbians increased in frequency.

When a lesbian or gay male is targeted by a hate crime, there are "multiple levels of victimization," according to an article in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence (Berrill et al., 1990, p. 401). The victim targeted by the hate action is directly and negatively affected; but beyond the initial emotional or physical attack, the person also faces "secondary victimization" resulting from "societal heterosexism" (Berrill, p. 401). Those secondary victimizations include: (a) losing one's job; (b) being evicted from one's place of residence; and (c) being denied public services or accommodations once one's sexual orientation is disclosed as a result of the hate crime. In other words, once victims of hate crimes are effectively "outed," additional discriminatory actions and attitudes can be perpetrated against them.

Same-Sex Marriage and the Law: Six States and the District of Columbia

In June 2011, New York became the sixth state to make same-sex marriage legal. According to The New York Times, the final vote in the New York State Senate was 33 to 29 — a margin achieved only because four Republicans joined all but one Democrat to form the necessary majority (Confessore et al., 2011). One of the reasons for the change of heart — two years earlier, similar legislation had been soundly defeated in the Senate — was that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo made passing the bill a top priority of his administration and helped create a broad coalition of supporters. Cuomo also helped supervise a $3 million television and radio campaign aimed at persuading several Republican and Democratic senators to support the measure (Confessore, p. 1).

With New York's vote, the state joined the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont as the only jurisdictions in America with laws permitting same-sex marriage.

The Roman Catholic Church steadfastly opposed same-sex marriage throughout the long national debate, consistently regarding homosexuality as sinful. In New York, the Catholic bishops issued a joint statement in response to the bill; they argued that the legislation would "alter radically and forever humanity's historic understanding of marriage," leaving them "deeply disappointed and troubled" (Confessore, p. 3). The lone Democrat to oppose the bill, State Senator Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, who resented the two-minute time limit on speeches, shouted, "You don't want to hear me," and then declared that "God, not Albany, has settled the definition of marriage, a long time ago" (Confessore, p. 3).

African-Americans and Same-Sex Marriage

An article in Social Science Quarterly (Sherkat et al., 2010, p. 80) reports that when California's Proposition 8 — which would deny same-sex couples the right to marry — appeared on the ballot in 2008, a significant percentage of African-American voters cast ballots in its favor. The California General Election Exit Poll indicated that 70% of African-Americans voted against same-sex marriage by supporting Proposition 8 (Sherkat, p. 80). The authors generalize that because the majority of African-Americans belong to Baptist denominations or the Church of God in Christ, and because African-Americans have the "highest rates of religious participation of any subgroup" in the United States, their influence on matters of gay rights and same-sex marriage is considerable (Sherkat, p. 81). The role played by African-American denominations is characterized as "quite different" from that of white conservative denominations (Sherkat, p. 81).

Sherkat also notes that "prominent secular African-Americans" in entertainment and sports have been observed to "express disapproval of homosexuality and hostility toward gays and lesbians," suggesting that opposition among Black Americans may be more secular in nature than purely religious (Sherkat, p. 81).

The authors further assert that 63% of African-Americans are members of "sectarian Protestant denominations" — including Baptist denominations — compared with just 30% of Caucasians (Sherkat, p. 83). African-Americans are described as "significantly more likely to view homosexuality as wrong" because of their conservative denominational affiliations. That said, Sherkat notes that when it comes to gay rights in general (as distinct from same-sex marriage), "African-Americans are more supportive than are whites" (Sherkat, p. 83).

Because very few African-Americans are Roman Catholic — Sherkat estimates fewer than 10% — Catholicism functions differently for Black Americans than it does for white Americans. If more African-Americans were Catholic, they might embrace the institutional bias against gay people beyond the existing reticence toward same-sex marriage. Sherkat identifies several additional factors that may contribute to Black opposition to same-sex marriage: African-Americans generally have "lower rates of educational attainment," and education is "among the most powerful predictors of support for GLBT rights" (Sherkat, p. 84). African-Americans are also more likely to live in the South — a region more socially conservative than the North or West — and more likely to have children living in the household, which can foster "conservative orientations" regarding sexual matters (Sherkat, p. 84).

Sherkat's conclusion states plainly that African-Americans are "more opposed to same-sex marriage than whites or persons of other ethnicities." Religious factors account substantially for this opposition. Income, gender, political viewpoints, and educational achievement do not play a "significant role in structuring African-America's views" on the issue (Sherkat, p. 94). Rather, it is the African-American community's deep cultural connection with conservative Christianity that makes homosexuality — and especially same-sex marriage — largely unacceptable.

Works Cited

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Confessore, Nicholas, and Michael Barbaro. "New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, Becoming Largest State to Pass Law." The New York Times, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com.

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Herek, Gregory M. "Hate Crimes Against Lesbians and Gay Men: Issues for Research and Policy." American Psychologist, vol. 44, no. 6, 1989, pp. 948–955.

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