A question for African Americans

[muchacho]

Can you explain to me why there not more support in the African American community toward the discrimination of gays?

Thanks.

[Muddleoftheroad]

1. Many African-Americans think it is wrong

Big time. Our community is far more conservative than anyone here likes to believe. Especially on this issue and others about morality. If the GOP taps this vein during the campaign, they could easily leave many black voters in a quandry or worse. I doubt we will vote GOP in big numbers, but we could sit on the sidelines.

[muchacho]

4. cause?

Would you say that much of the conservatism in the African-American community comes from their close ties to the church?

It appears that much of the unwillingness to associate with the Gay cause is based in a skewed view of gods will.

[Muddleoftheroad]

6. Not so much church as religion and traditional morality

But Jesse has already shown that black churches will be no friend to the gay community.

FYI, there is also NO tolerance of homosexuality in much of the black community. I have known gay black men who were pretty much disowned by their families.

[Solomon]

2. I agree with Muddle, but it also depends on what you call

"discrimination" too. Blacks would suppport and have supported discrimination against gays in the work place, the voting booth, etc., but blacks don't see the marriage issue as "discrimination."

People will disagree with that, but I'm just telling you how blacks feel about it.

[ecstatic]

3. many reasons--mainly religion and lack of exposure

One black guy I know is "homophobic" because a pedophile attacked him as a child. He ended up generalizing that type of behavior to all gays. Also, many black women perceive a "shortage" of black men in the community. This causes many women/community leaders to be irritated with men who are gay. Others choose not to support gays because of their religious backgrounds, still others resent how gays try to tie the experience of black Americans to the gay movement. So basically, its a combination of MANY different factors that causes the gay issue not to resonate in many black communities. I think among those factors, religion plays the greatest role (note that most black politicians have strong ties to the church).

There is a growing number of A.A.s that are accepting of gays, as the mystique is increasingly disappearing (i.e., more and more black people are coming out of the closet). In the past, the only people who were really out of the closet were the people who came across as being way over the top-such as overly feminine men, and overly masculine women. As more so called "normal" people come out the closet, the understanding of gays will increase further. Also, there is way more media inclusion of gays than there was in the past. You also have to keep in mind that A.A.s are also the product of the American culture--an overwhelming amount of Americans in general do not support gay marriage, etc. When the overall culture changes, then overall A.A. views should change as well.

[muchacho]

5. Thanks Truth Hurts A Lot

I think you answered my question to Muddle above.