CATCH-22 IN NOVEMBER ELECTION

San Diego -- A Catch-22 situation is developing in the November election for supporters of Obama for president, but who also oppose Prop-8 (it will abolish gay marriages in California).
"Could Sen. Obama's popularity among black voters hurt gay couples who want to marry?" asks a recent New York Times article.
Obama is opposed to Prop-8, and has said so.
But, "many black voters" are traditionally conservative on social issues involving homosexuality, and "they could pour into voting stations to vote for the Obama ticket - and then cast a vor FOR Prop-8," the N-Y-T said.
"There's no question that African-American and Latino voters are among our strongest supporters," said Frank Schubert, co-campaign manager for 'Yes on 8,' the leading group behind the measure.
"To blunt that possibility, gay leaders and Prop-8 opponents have been sponsoring casual events at restaruants in traditionally black neightborhoods in L.A., meeting with black clergy and recruiting black couples to serve on panels and at house parties and church events," the N-Y-T article reported.
No similar actions are reported in the San Diego area.
"This is black people talking to black people," said Ron Buckmire, heading a coalition of gay-rights groups in L.A. "We're saying, 'Gay people are black and black people are Gay. If you are voting conservative on an antigay ballot measure, you are hurting the black community'," the N-Y-T added.
Black voters account of 6 percent of likely voters in most statewide election, while Latinos make up about 15 percent. Taken together, those two groups could easily decide a close election, including the vote on Prop-8.
HARD-CORE MONEY ISSUES ARE ALSO B-I-G
Both sides on the anti-gay issue of Prop-8 have raised a combined $30 million, with donations supporting the initiative "considerably ahead" of the opposition, according to the Los Angeles Times.
One poll shows Prop-8 is trailing, but one study shows that voters, when questioned by pollsters and driven by 'political correctness,' substantially underreport their opposition to gay civil-rights issues.
Perhaps those in the black community may be unaware that their community's most militant members have historically supported gay civil-rights issues.
For example, when Gay-Lib was first being launched in San Francisco, months before the Stonewall riots, the Black Panther Party publicly supported the actions of the militant Committee for Homosexual Freedom in San Francisco.
It ran full-page statements supporting gay rights in its B-P-P newspaper, and it also trained the gay activists in legal tactics and strategy.
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Copyright by journalist Leo E. Laurence leopowerhere@msn.com or call (619) 757-4909