Black Democrats in the District are split on recognizing same-sex marriages, based on the results of two recent straw polls.

Wards 5 and 8 are largely black communities. On Monday night, Democrats in Ward 5 rejected by a nearly 2-to-1 margin a resolution to support the D.C. Council’s vote to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. This came two days after the majority of a small sample of Ward 8 Democrats said they would support legalizing same-sex marriages in D.C.