Gay is the new black

In a statement released today regarding the passage of California's Proposition 8, which seeks to amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and woman, No On 8 said the following:

"We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight. We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss. We know people of all faiths, races and backgrounds stand with us in our fight to end discrimination, and will continue to do so. Now more than ever it is critical that we work together and respect our differences that make us a diverse and unique society. Only with that understanding will we achieve justice and equality for all."

In case you're wondering, the part about African American voters is in response to the fact that 70 percent of African Americans voted Yes on Proposition 8.

The theory goes, African Americans turned out in higher numbers to support their man, Barack. They got to the polls, and the socially conservative lot thought "gay people shouldn't be calling their unions 'MARRIAGE!'

Whether African Americans did in Prop 8 is being debated as I type. (Also check out Meg's post on Prop 8).

Either way, the theory was discussed well in advance of November 4th because a) African Americans were expected to come out in record numbers and b) our President-elect stopped short of calling gay unions marriage.

But I am left with this: California voted to elect an African American president while simultaneously voting to amend the state constitution to exclude gays from calling their unions marriage. Does that mean that gay is the new black?