A new report by the National Black Justice Coalition obtained by the Bay Area Reporter shows that African Americans are more likely than Whites (65 percent vs. 53 percent) to oppose marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
The report, "At the Crossroads: African American Attitudes, Perceptions, and Beliefs toward Marriage Equality" was a joint effort of the National Black Justice Coalition and Freedom to Marry and is being shared with other organizations but not being released to the public.
Reporting on the findings, the Bay Area Reporter notes:
While the report made clear that NBJC believes that "homophobia and heterosexism cut across communities and racial, class, and ethnic lines," the group also acknowledged that "the attitudes and perceptions of African Americans toward marriage equality is sometimes contradictory or at odds with the community's long history of working to secure rights on the behalf of disenfranchised or marginalized groups."
According to the report, African Americans "are virtually the only constituency in the country that has not become more supportive over the last dozen years, falling from a high of 65 percent support for gay rights in 1996 to only 40 percent in 2004."
"Nearly three-quarters of blacks say that homosexual relations are always wrong, and over one-third say that AIDS might be God's punishment for immoral sexual behavior," the report stated. "Overall, blacks are 14 percentage points more likely to hold both positions than whites."
The Bay Area Reporter notes that the NBJC report urges that educational efforts in the African American community be focused on youth between 18 and 21, heterosexual women with high levels of education and income, urban areas, and those African Americans who attend church less than once a month.