The National Organization for Marriage has been under intense scrutiny for its race-baiting tactics of turning racial minorities against the gay community. The jury is still out on whether or not they succeeded with the black community, although if there is any divide between gays and blacks we are not for certain whether it was due to NOM's tactics or if this tension has already existed. After examining several polls and studies we have come to the conclusion that this divide between gays and blacks is rather recent but not too recent to warrant NOM's involvement, but most likely from NOM's predecessors of the religious right who have been able to influence the black community on gay issues for the last decade.
But it has been a different experience for the Latino community with the gay issue and gay marriage itself. While blacks are all primarily of the same nationality (American) the same cannot be said with the Latino community. Latinos are comprised of those whose nationality is either American or another country, and this factor must taken into consideration since Latinos with an American nationality are more likely to support gay rights than those who are not. However, lately we have noticed a trend that Latinos (mainly from Mexico and South America) have come to embrace the Latino gay community across all nationalities, religions, and generations. As more gays become visible within the Latino community the issues of homophobia and prejudice are brought into light as an overwhelmingly majority of the Latino community has rejected the notion that it is okay for Latino parents to throw gay children out into the street.
It is the sense of Latino family that has become NOM's problem rather than solution. Latino parents place a lot more emphasis on nurturing family (children and elderly) rather than rejecting them on any difference. Latino families in the context of which we live in today are not limited to the nuclear but rather also include extended family and a more sense of closeness with such family members as though they were a part of the nuclear family. Indeed in the Latino community, particularly the Mexican community (since we here at The Gay Report are Mexican Americans and we can speak candidly about this) households tend to be way bigger than other households and hence more probability of exposure to different sexual orientations of other family members or relatives are happening.
The war against homosexuality in the Latino community is over. Parents have accepted their gay children. Siblings accepted their gay brothers and sisters, and cousins have come around to defend their gay cousins against homophobia and hatred. It is safe to say that hatred has been rejected by the Latino community at large. However, ridicule is still a problem and there are still problems of authoritative parents, and zealous religious relatives, but these voices have vastly become smaller everyday.
The Latino community still has some way to go to understand human sexuality and how homosexuality is developed. But it is now clear that Latinos have accepted homosexuality and have clearly said that homosexuality should be accepted.
What NOM does not understand is that the Latino community is now understanding that opposition to gay marriage is coming from the Republican Party. And for the most part, the majority of Latinos reject any type of policy that might identify them as aligning themselves with the GOP. For many Latinos, opposition to gay marriage is not a "badge" of identity for Latinos as NOM pointed out, but rather a badge of identity for the "primarily white anti-immigrant republican party." We are not making up these conclusions ourselves or taking partisan sides but rather reflecting and restating what many Latinos have related to us in regard to this matter.
For now NOM looks rather ridiculous in its baseless stupid claims that Latinos are on their side. One clear indicator is this: they do not have a single Latino working for them. Lastly, Sen. Ruben Diaz is not an issue for us, because every single Latino we talked to (over 300+) have no idea who he is, as opposed to Ricky Martin, Jorge Ramos, Don Francisco, Gordo y La Flaca, Christina Saralegi, Juan Gabriel, Selena, all who advocate for gay rights and respect for gay people.
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