Obama May Get Out the Anti-Gay Marriage Vote

Black voters energized by Barack Obama’s candidacy may also support a Californian ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, the New York Times reports, though Obama himself opposes the ban. Opponents and supporters of Proposition 8 say African Americans will play a crucial role, and each side is trying to win over black voters.

Blacks will heavily support the measure, one pro-ban campaigner says, and “to the extent that they are motivated to get to the polls, whether by this issue or by Barack Obama, it helps us.” But opponents try to frame the debate in terms of civil rights. “Gay people are black and black people are gay,” one says. “And if you are voting conservative on an anti-gay ballot measure, you are hurting the black community.”