Ninth District U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker recently deemed Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California, unconstitutional.
Kevin E. Stafford had a few words of his own about Walker's recent ruling, calling it "an injustice."
"Most fundamentally, speaking from a perspective of Christianity, Scriptures make it plain the problem with same-sex marriage," says Stafford, who is black and the senior pastor of Zion Baptist Evangelistic Temple in Compton. "The Scriptures make it plain that it is upheld by God that man and woman are to be united... And secondly, I think that once a people has spoken — we are a democratic society — you don't go back and undo what the people have done. We spoke already... What else can be overturned that the people have voted on?"
Rudy Carn doesn't share some of Stafford's views.
"We have a Constitution, and the Constitution says, 'Equal rights for all,' " says the gay black male, who serves as chair of the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition in Washington, D.C.
Carn says he is glad about the Aug. 4 ruling in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.
The decision has helped reignite the controversial issue of legalizing gay marriage, leading many Americans — including blacks — to once again discuss, debate, applaud and denounce the concept.
In 2008, same-sex marriage touched nerves in many sectors of society, including among African Americans. The effect partly stemmed from Proposition 8, which amended California's Constitution to define a valid and recognized marriage to be only between a man and woman.
Many blacks balked at or agreed with the argument that fighting for same-sex marriage was the same as advocating for the civil rights of African Americans.
The L.A. Watts Times spoke to several blacks locally and nationally about their reaction to Walker's recent decision, and the reactions indeed run the gamut.
Carn, who also services as chief executive officer if the National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities Inc. in Atlanta, says HIV, poverty and homelessness — at least in his social sphere — trump the issue of gay marriage.
"I think that we (black gay men) have so many issues that we're trying to deal with" that gay marriage is not the priority, he says.
Willis Edwards, who is on the board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, says Walker's ruling was "fair and just," but he points to another issue that's pressing on the black community.
"People are worried about jobs, brother," says Edwards, a longtime local community activist in Los Angeles. "We have to stay focused on what we need to be doing for our community. People need jobs — people are concerned about surviving.
Sharon Lettman, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, which filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, says gay marriage in the black community shouldn't be significant — in a certain sense. A greater priority is to include lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) in the black community, says Lettman, whose Washington, D.C.-based organization advocates for the black LGBT community on various issues.
Lettman says blacks in the LGBT community are "overwhelmingly" treated as a "don't-ask-don't-tell community," and there is a lack of acknowledgment and respect for them.
"It's not that it's not important," Lettman says of gay marriage. "It's just the cart before the horse."
Marvin Perkins says he sees Walker's decision as "inconsequential."
"I don't have a lot of feeling about that decision simply because, regardless of what the decision was, it was going to be appealed," says Perkins, who is African American and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
But the issue of gay marriage itself is something he still has feelings about. Perkins says he believes marriage should be between a man and woman, and that children should have a mother and father. Legalizing same-sex marriage allows gay couples to "push their agenda" on everyone else, he says, later adding:
"If we are going to redefine marriage, where does it stop? ... What about the man who wants to marry his sister? What about the man who wants to marry more than one person? ... Where does it end?"
In 2008, Perkins advocated for passing Proposition 8 to ban gay marriages, even speaking on television, but he doesn't plan to participate in any activism this time around.
"Now that that is out of our hands, I'll leave it to those who can decide what to do from here," he says.
Walker's decision means that the case will be heard before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and and observers and those in the legal community are anticipating the matter will go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Daria Roithmayr, a University of Southern California law professor, says she expects the Supreme Court to take the case. Walker's decision was so "meticulously written" that it would be very hard to overturn, says Roithmayr, who teaches critical race theory and is an expert on race and gender.
Part of Walker's decision, which is more than 130 pages, states: "California has eliminated all legally-mandated gender roles except the requirement that a marriage consist of one man and one woman ... Proposition 8 thus enshrines in the California Constitution a gender restriction that the evidence shows to be nothing more than an artifact of a foregone notion that men and women fulfill different roles in civic life."
Jim Campbell, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, and a participant in recent case, tells the L.A. Watts Times that the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't hear a case unless it decides to do so, but "one thing's for sure: Whoever loses before the Ninth Circuit (court) will ask the Supreme Court to hear this case."
"This case has just begun," Campbell adds. "In our country, we should respect and uphold the right of the people to make policy choices through the democratic process."
Geoff Kors, executive director for Equality California, said in a recent press release that the recent ruling "affirms that the protections enshrined in our U.S. Constitution apply to all Americans and that our dream of equality and freedom deserves protection. Judge Walker has preserved our democracy by ruling that a majority cannot deny a minority group of fundamental freedoms."
Meanwhile, recent polling data suggest opinions about gay marriage have changed over the past couple of years. According to the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C., a recent survey conducted by the organization suggests that a majority of Californians (51 percent) would vote for supporting gay marriage if a similar Proposition 8 vote took place tomorrow.
"Among black Protestants, twice as many report becoming more supportive as report becoming more opposed (27% vs. 13%)," according to the institute's report, titled "Religion and Same-sex Marriage in California: A New Look at Attitudes and Values Two Years after Proposition 8."
When it comes to Hosea Collins' opinion, the question he asks is, "What does my King (God) say about it?
"And my King said that it is not His will; it is not His way," adds Collins, an African American who serves as the youth and young adult pastor of the City of Refuge in Gardena. "And from a practical, natural standpoint, I don't believe that should be done, because the people have spoken. And if we are still a nation that's for the people and by the people, then what the people decide is what's law. So spiritually, it's wrong. And even from a natural, political standpoint, it's still wrong."
Cecil "Chip" Murray, former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, says he feels Walker made the right decision.
"Beyond a doubt, I think his decision was impeccably correct," says Murray, who is now the John R. Tansey chair in Christian ethics and professor of religion at USC. "It is unconstitutional to segregate against citizens of our nation without just cause."
Murray says that public opinion in the black community includes strong positions for and against Proposition 8. He says the faith-based community was, by and large, against gay marriage in 2008.
"Our challenge, I think, is to stay open to discussion" and remain civil in the discussion, Murray adds.
Who knows what will happen with gay marriage in California? No one can say for sure, but Murray has a guess:
"My prediction is that in 50 years, we will have an entirely different scenario being played out on the question of homosexuality," Murray says. "They will have won their freedom and their rights."
Related article:
• Proposition 8 Vote Stirs Black-Gay Animosity, Debate
Samuel Richard is Managing Editor at the L.A. Watts Times.
Los Angeles Sentinel Religion Editor Neile Anderson contributed to this report.
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