12/04/2008
SURVEY: Education and Income Played Big Role in Prop 8 Passage
A new statewide survey of California voters reveals that education and income were as influential as many other factors in the failure to defeat Proposition 8 in California:
"The new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California of 2,003 Californians who voted Nov. 4 found significantly less support for Prop. 8 among blacks than had been indicated by exit polls. Election Day exit polls triggered recriminations between gay rights advocates and black leaders. And now the new data indicates that 61 percent of Latinos voted for the ban, an even higher percentage than exit polls indicated on Election Day. But while a majority of non-white voters backed a ban on gay marriage, the key finding in the new survey was that voters' position on Prop. 8 was determined more by their level of education and income than their race or ethnicity, said PPIC president Mark Baldassare. Among Californians with a high school diploma or less, 69 percent voted for Prop. 8. Among college graduates, 57 percent voted against it. 'Both among whites and non-whites, among college graduates and among upper-income voters, Prop. 8 lost,' Baldassare said. 'Among both whites and non-whites, among non-college graduates and lower income voters, Prop. 8 won. It seems to me that some of what we attributed to race and ethnic differences really had to do with a socioeconomic divide in regard to same-sex marriage.'"
Added Baldassare: "[If the state sees more growth among groups who are less educated and less affluent,] "then you are not necessarily going to see a situation where you have growing support for gay marriage in California. It has to do with exposure to different ideas. It's perceptions about lifestyle differences, tolerance for differences, broader view of social trends and issues — all those things tend to come with more education."
It also showed Republicans and Evangelical Christians were among the measure's biggest backers. Big surprise there.
Education and income were strong factors in vote against gay marriage [mercury news]
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:55 AM EST by Andy in California, Gay Marriage, News, Proposition 8 | Permalink
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You mean dumb poor people are more likely to believe the crap they see on the teevee when it plays to their fears and insecurities?
Posted by: MikeinSanJose | Dec 4, 2008 10:14:27 AM
So the takeaway here is to move protests from Mormon temples to, uh, Wal-Marts?
Posted by: crispy | Dec 4, 2008 10:16:18 AM
"lifestyle differences"?
Posted by: JohnInManhattan | Dec 4, 2008 10:28:55 AM
very funny, Mike in SJ!
Posted by: Dan B | Dec 4, 2008 10:36:03 AM
Religion was a key factor as well:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081204/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_poll
Here is the survey:
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_Prop8JTF.pdf
Posted by: soulbrotha | Dec 4, 2008 11:30:45 AM
Still waiting for Dan Savage's public apology.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Dec 4, 2008 11:34:16 AM
thanks, SOULBROTHA, the full survey results were very interesting. Most interesting to me is that 79% of respondents who claim "no religion" voted against Prop 8. It's hard not to interpret that as the group that is most able to separate church and state.
Posted by: Dan B | Dec 4, 2008 11:52:43 AM
The news article at the top of this thread supports the view that education, income & religious beliefs had more to do with the passage of Proposition 8 than race. There are five folks posting...well, six including this Colored queen.
Incredib...no...no it's not.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Dec 4, 2008 1:45:24 PM
Uhm
Quite a few pointed out that CNN's (the mutch pointed to poll post prop 8 passage)exit poll was flawed simply by the fact that CNN refused to release its background data as in where they polled.
But the very flawed CNN exit poll gave cover to many in our community to put away the pearls and dust off those white robes in their closets.
Anyway; the majority of repub voters are less educated and lower income, the majority of church goers are less educated and lower income, the majority that are against us are less educated and lower income. No surprises there
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Dec 4, 2008 2:03:04 PM
Getting whiplash here. Now we’re being swung in the opposite direction in relation to the relevance of African-Americans to Prop H8TE passage. Is that, in fact, justified by the data, or simply selective perception?
NB: The EXACT wording of the survey’s press release, emphasis mine:
“Latinos (61%) were more likely than whites (50%) to vote yes; and 57 percent of Latinos, Asians, and blacks combined voted yes. (SAMPLES SIZES FOR ASIANS AND BLACKS ARE TOO SMALL TO REPORT SEPARATELY.)”
The survey STILL found that a MAJORITY of black voters contributed to the passage of H8TE, and, that’s still just as unconscionable as any racism I encounter among my fellow white gays. Intolerance must not be tolerated regardless of its color or whom it sleeps with.
And it’s not just a problem for gays of whatever color, but for nongays of color who publicly opposed H8TE, and we must thank and support them. E.g, the marvelous and courageous Rev. Amos Brown, a pastor at San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church and president of the local branch of the NAACP had a sermon interrupted by another minister protesting his opposition to H8TE and found people boycotting his annual NAACP fundraiser last month because he’s done such things as saying at a No On 8 rally election night, "I will stand alone, and go to my grave, and say to African Americans you must not become that which you hated,” and later speaking “to the loudest response” at the huge post election SF City Hall Rally.
“"I would say about 25 percent of the people made it known they are not coming because of our position," Brown said. "We will go ahead with our friends who have the sense to know the issues well, that it is equal protection under the law and not a religious issue. The Yes on 8 position does not represent the spirit of Jesus."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/21/BA19148QAH.DTL&hw=amos+brown+naacp&sn=001&sc=1000
http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2008/11/20/ba-prop821_brown_0499455662.jpg
Brown at the No On 8 rally election night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB85wSn0Riw&feature=related
Here's a local TV station's story on the fundraiser boycott described below:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6520018
I’m sending a belated donation to Brown’s fundraiser, encourage others to do the same, or at least e-mail their appreciation to him at:
dramoscbrown@thirdbaptist.org
Posted by: Leland Frances | Dec 4, 2008 3:32:30 PM
This survey is probably just as wonderful as all the pre-election surveys that showed prop 8 going down to defeat.
Posted by: anon | Dec 4, 2008 5:19:50 PM
70%. Until I see a figure near that, I think anyone trying to spin the AA vote as something we shouldn't bother discussing are morons.
There's not point in "blaming," but refusing to even acknowledge the reality of the votes for fear of sounding "racist" doesn't serve anyone at all. There is a reality here and if you can't bring yourself to face it, I have no idea how anyone plans to change it.
Posted by: Lance | Dec 4, 2008 6:52:56 PM
Still waiting for Dan Savage's public apology."
Amen to that SoulBrotha!
Posted by: Giovanni | Dec 4, 2008 8:03:36 PM
"Dumb poor people"
Yeah, you know, those folks who actually know something about being oppressed. As opposed to you lot sitting around writing plays and wondering which new sexy outfits you'll buy for your vacation in Cancun.
Thanks for summarizing so succinctly the real anti-Prop 8 politics. Nice to see someone make clear that all the nonsense about 'we're just like the black civil rights movement' is transparent lies, that you all know it and that in fact most of you hate 'those icky poor and black and brown people,' and that this is really just about the same thing that motivates the rest of your lives: naked narcissism.
Posted by: Working Class Male | Dec 4, 2008 9:06:39 PM
No, let me explain it to you: Black and Latino voters have the perception that it is a bunch of privileged, arrogant, White perverts who insult the very term "civil rights" by clamoring for civil recognition of their "perverted and ungodly acts". The irony is that it is White evangie/fundies who for at least the past ten years have been actively promoting this viewpoint in the Black and Latino church communities through a sophisticated and well-funded campaign. Because it is being done primarily through "religious" communities explains why the fruits of those efforts caught the gay and lesbian community by surprise and dealt them a major electoral defeat. It is a campaign that is bearing fruit and may signal the end of Black and Latino support for the Democratic Party. Evil never sleeps. It never rests. It never takes a holiday. Evangelicals will never stop until America is a theocracy and not a democracy.
Posted by: mike | Dec 5, 2008 1:14:32 PM
Hey WORKING CLASS MALE, fuck you! This homo doesn't write plays, can't afford to travel to Cancun (never cared to anyway) and don't sweat too much whether I get "sexy new outfits". You're an asshole if you think that "poor dumb people" only come in dark colours. For your information, dick-brain, they come in white colours, too. Spare me your "working class hero" bullshit and your bogus belief that opposition to Prop. 8 was "naked narcissism". It IS about civil rights: the right of a segment of American society to be full and equal participants in American life as guaranteed by the Constitution and have civil (NOT religious) recognition of their committed relationships and the rights and benefits and responsibilities that come with such recognition. That your stupid ass couldn't parse the difference and the rationale between civil recognition as opposed to religious recognition of same-sex marriage only goes to show that you are in serious need of an ignorance-adjustment. In other words, kiss my white, naked, narcissistic queer ass.
Posted by: mike | Dec 5, 2008 1:31:54 PM