Obama has become the first sitting U.S. president to publicly support same-sex marriage. He has claimed that his position on the subject has been evolving. However, that seems doubtful.
Indeed, USA TODAY ran an excerpt from Elliott Abrams of The Weekly Standard. According to Abrams, “Running for the Illinois state senate from a friendly area of Chicago in 1996, he [Obama] was for gay marriage . . . .” (USA TODAY, May 11, 2012, p. 11A.)
It seems as though that, rather than flip-flopping on the issue, Obama was simply waiting for the right time to publicly express his support of same-sex marriage. The decision was forced after Vice-president Joe Biden and education secretary Arne Duncan publicly voiced their support for it.
How might all of this play out? Most religious African Americans have simply shrugged their shoulders at Obama’s public stance. Most of them do not support it. However, they are not about to support Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Some of them actually believe that Obama does not truly support same-sex marriage. They contend that he is simply using a political ploy to gain votes in what looks like it could be a close election. However, some reactionary Black religious leaders have been critical of Obama’s position on this contentious issue.
According to the most recent Gallup poll released in May, 50 percent or more of Americans support same-sex marriage, for the second year in a row. Forty-seven percent of Americans favored same-sex marriage according to a Public Religion Research Institute poll conducted in 2011.
African Americans still oppose same-sex marriage more than most groups. However, opposition to same-sex marriage among African Americans has decreased a great deal in recent years. From 2008-2012, the percentage of African Americans against same-sex marriage has gone down from 63 percent to 49 percent, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in April. The poll found that the percentage of African Americans supporting same-sex marriage rose from 26 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2012.
As quietly as it is kept, there are many influential Black religious progressives that support the rights of LGBTQI people. They include Al Sharpton, Cornel West, bell hooks, Jesse Jackson, Michael Eric Dyson, Joseph Lowery, and others. The late Coretta Scott King defended the rights of LGBTQI people, as do most of her surviving family members. Moreover, there is much literature by Black religious progressives defending the rights of LGBTQI people.
American society has come very far where the issue of same-sex marriage is concerned. Just a very short time ago, the vast majority of religious conservatives were opposed to civil unions for
LGBTQI people. However, today, though they still oppose same-sex marriage, the majority of them accept civil unions. This is nothing short of astonishing.
Many conservatives object to same-sex marriage because they believe marriage should be defined as an institution between a man and a woman. However, word definitions and institutions change all the time. Today, there are blended families, extended families, adoptive families, families with two mothers and two fathers, etc. Practically everything in life evolves—including word definitions and family structures.
Some conservatives still insist that marriage is primarily for raising children. However, childless heterosexual couples often marry, and without opposition from religious fanatics. After all is said and done, marriage is an institution for consenting adults (and teens that get their parents’ permission), regardless whether they are interested in having children.
There are still those that insist that homosexuality is unnatural. However, researchers have observed homosexual behavior in about 1,200 species, including insects. However, homophobes do not deal with this fact very well. Indeed, some years ago, there was an animal documentary shown on television in Norway. Whales of the same sex were shown having sex, and conservative religionists raised stern objections to the showing of this behavior.
How will Obama’s public position on same-sex marriage be viewed internationally? In most African and Arab nations, homophobia is rampant among all sectors of society. In some nations, homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, and some African nations want to make it punishable by death. In some Arab nations it is punishable by death.
Africans and Arabs always seem to be the last to accept major steps forward in the areas of human rights. They have been the last to eradicate chattel slavery, to support the rights of women and children, etc. In parts of Africa, they are still persecuting and killing alleged witches, a practice that ended in Europe centuries ago. However, perhaps now that a U.S. president of African descent that has reached out to Muslims has publicly defended same-sex marriage, perhaps people in Africa and the Arab world might at least reconsider their positions on the issue. One can only hope.
Obama could face problems with U.S. voters in swing states. Republicans will try to use Obama’s stance against him. However, Republicans have an image problem with which to contend.
Just as Obama announced his public support for same-sex marriage, news broke about Romney’s “high school prank” 50 years ago. The Washington Post reported that Romney and many schoolmates teased, harassed, held down, and cut off the hair of a schoolmate believed to be a homosexual, as the student screamed for help. The paper also reported that Romney screamed “atta girl” at another student that several years later identified as gay. Considering that Romney opposes same-sex marriage and embraces the conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), he could further alienate even those progressives that might have been inclined to consider voting for him. In light of current efforts to combat bullying of LGBTQI students, this latest news cannot bode well for Romney.
Obama has eliminated Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and now has voiced support for same-sex marriage. Though his decision to come out in support of the latter issue was forced, it was still courageous. Martin Luther King once remarked: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands during times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands during times of challenge and controversy.” Indeed, the world needs more courageous women and men to follow Obama’s lead without being worried about political consequences and fallout. The world must applaud Obama for a job well done.