The authors of this Op-Ed in today's NY Times write about the impact of the African-American vote in California in helping to pass Proposition 8. In case there are some of you out there who still don't know what this was, simply put, Proposition 8 while ostensibly banning marriage between same-sex couples was, in reality, the codifying of discrimination against gays and lesbians into the Constitution of the state of California.
Most post-election analysis verifies that blacks as well as Latinos in the majority voted for Prop 8. And the authors rightly point out that the opposition of these groups to any form of legitimizing homosexuality is partly rooted in their Christian faith. It is, as their preachers proclaim, an "abomination". But perhaps their cultural mores trumps their faith in the level of intolerance and abhorrence of homosexuality. But this cultural ethos has led to fatal consequences in at least one of these communities.
I would presume that there are still many people who have never heard of the term the "down low". Here is one definition....
From the NY Times:
"Rejecting a gay culture they perceive as white and effeminate, many black men have settled on a new identity, with its own vocabulary and customs and its own name: Down Low. There have always been men -- black and white -- who have had secret sexual lives with men. But the creation of an organized, underground subculture largely made up of black men who otherwise live straight lives is a phenomenon of the last decade."
And I was not being melodramatic when I said this has had fatal consequences. According to the CDC and recent Census reports, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among black women ages 25-34 and among black men ages 35-44. To put it succinctly, denial = death.
So unless and until the African-American community comes to grips with the reality that gays and lesbians come in all shapes, colors and sizes, this cycle of denial, deceit and death will continue. And here's where the black churches should be in the business of saving lives as well as souls. African-Americans maybe offended by the equating their struggle for civil rights with that of the LBTG community, they should also be the first to understand that bigotry is the result of ignorance.
Challenging the prejudices of any one individual or group of individuals is never easy. The first step is educating them to both the causes of such prejudices and their often deadly consequences.
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