TX Marriage Amendment Received Widespread Support Across Party Lines
Just days after voters in Texas passed a constitutional ban on so-called “gay marriage,” the Houston Chronicle reported the sweeping support for traditional families cut across the entire political spectrum. The newspaper reported that all types of voters backed the pro-family measure; even traditionally Democratic voters like blacks and Hispanics crossed partisan lines to support the traditional definition of marriage.
Not only did the amendment energize large amounts of socially conservative Republicans and other evangelicals, it succeeded in drawing many other diverse voter demographics into its support base. Voter turnout was the highest in an election of its kind since 1991; about eighteen percent of registered Texas voters came out to the ballot box. Some analysts attribute this large turnout to the nature of the amendment up for approval. “…This [amendment] so transcends all the political parties and the typical categorizations,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of the conservative Free Market Foundation, which backed the amendment. “We didn’t even call Republican homes. We called Hispanics, African-Americans and rural Texas voters. That’s where the numbers were,” he said.
Minority populations have typically sided strongly with causes that appeal to religion and preserving family values. On the single issue of defining marriage as between a man and a woman, minorities often voted as favorably and sometimes more favorably than higher-income Republican precincts, said political scientist Tim O’Neill at Southwestern University in Georgetown. “They don’t see it as much as a civil rights issue as they see it as a right of traditional marriage issue,” he said. “African-Americans are by far the strongest supporters of the Democratic Party, but not on this issue. This is not a Republican/Democratic issue per se.”
Statewide the marriage amendment won 76 percent of the vote.
This widespread support among minorities was evident in the counties along the border of the US and Mexico. The amendment passed by 81 percent in Hidalgo County, 75 percent in Webb County and 86 percent in Jim Hogg County. Even though these counties are heavily Democratic, Hispanic and economically weak, residents voted their values and convictions and helped to drive back the statewide assault on the family by homosexual activists.
Not surprisingly, many Texas churches played a significant role in the effort to pass the pro-family amendment. Clergy participated in “marriage protection Sunday” and spoke of the importance of marriage and its biblical roots, said Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council. Others ran a 30-second television ad featuring the touching hands of a man, woman and baby. “That message was probably stronger … in the Minority church community than in the Anglo church community,” he said. “Many were more active and more visible in coming out on the issue than many were in the suburbs.”
Many analysts contend that the amendment passed in Texas’ big cities largely due to the strong support from the black community, which traditionally supports the Democratic agenda. Rice University political scientist Bob Stein said the measure won easily in the Houston area because of black support. “In black boxes, it was 75 percent to 25 percent in favor of Prop 2,” Stein said. “That’s explained by heavy black turnout by African-American women who go to church.”
Based on an article by the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle, 11/10/05 Link
Gay marriage ban crossed political lines, analysts say
By POLLY ROSS HUGHES and R.G. RATCLIFFE