Obama’s Marriage Equality Endorsement Shifts the Views of African Americans

A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling in Maryland has discovered that African Americans opinions concerning same-sex marriage has shifted significantly after President Obama made his historic announcement stating his belief that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. This political poll was conducted with an oversampling of African American participants to reveal that the once majority opposition in the African American community has shifted to be widely supportive of gay marriage. Maryland, which is facing a voter referendum after a same-sex marriage law was passed in the state now is showing a 20 point lead in approval of same-sex marriage in recent polls primarily because the political landscape has shifted after the president’s proclamation. While many recent poll releases have shown that American’s as a whole have shifted to a more favorable opinion concerning same-sex marriage African American’s are generally more socially conservative and have had unfavorable opinions about gay marriage. This dramatic shift may be an indicator that their views are “evolving” along the lines of the president’s but a more telling sign from the poll is that African American’s are going to be supportive of Obama regardless of his stance on Same-Sex marriage. The incumbent President is still receiving about 90% of the African-American vote, so while Obama may not have the same kind of enthusiasm that he generated in 2008 he still doesn’t need to worry about losing the Black Democratic vote.