08/22/2008
Poll: Majority Would Support Openly Gay Presidential Candidate
A new Zogby poll of 1,089 adults reveals that a majority of Americans would support an openly gay presidential candidate, according to the Victory Fund:
"More than six in ten U.S. voters say they could support an openly gay candidate for president of the United States, and 70% say they’d support the appointment of an openly gay cabinet secretary, according to a new nationwide poll from Zogby International...Sixty-six percent of poll respondents said they could support an openly gay vice-presidential candidate, while 69% said a gay candidate for U.S. Senate could get their vote. The poll of 1,089 adults was conducted August 13 to 15 for the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI), a non-partisan leadership development organization."
The Victory Fund adds: "More than 415 openly LGBT elected officials serve at every level of government throughout the United States, a ten-fold increase in just the last two decades. At the federal level, five openly gay or lesbian Members have served in the U.S. House of Representatives, including current Reps. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Both are Democrats. No openly LGBT candidate has yet been elected to the U.S. Senate."
Posted 10:40 AM EST by Andy Towle in Democratic Party, News | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Sadly I think we're seeing the same effect here as the people who in polls say that they'll vote for Obama - because they don't want to seem racist to a pollster - but then actually don't. I mean its a great sign I think that people even feel the need to say yes - but I can't imagine that such high percentages actually would, yet.
What would have to be the profile of a gay candidate? No one has been elected in decades who wasn't married at the time, or who didn't either have grown children or children living at home. Half the country doesn't even agree with gay marriage yet! There's some dissonance here. What sort of sexual history would he have to have had? I can just imagine the media trying to dig up any story about his past - as soon as Fox Noise started talking about anal sex, which of course they would, he'd be finished.
This is a good 30 years away, at least. Sorry to say.
Posted by: Mike Hines | Aug 22, 2008 10:49:07 AM
Well put, Mike. I completely agree.
PS Let's focus on attaining equality on the ground first.
Posted by: Tim | Aug 22, 2008 10:55:32 AM
Nonsense, Mike. The American people would much rather nhave Ellen for President than either current candidate.
And I'm writing in Neil Patrick Harris.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 22, 2008 10:56:43 AM
I'm not sure I believe this poll. If Americans are pitching fits over gays getting any rights at all, then I'm not sure they'd vote for one for president.
Posted by: KFLO | Aug 22, 2008 11:02:55 AM
I wonder how come Mikulski doesn't come out.
Posted by: Miles | Aug 22, 2008 11:04:05 AM
Perhaps people may not vote in real life the way they say they might do to pollster, but the fact that they do say that is significant. Polls have also shown that young people are less prejudice towards gays than older ones, so at the least you need to wait for the jaundiced older folks to slowly die off first. Advancement comes in small steps, so take this as a positive sign for the future.
Posted by: HZH | Aug 22, 2008 11:09:21 AM
i don't buy it -- they must have polled 1089 queers or something... the south certainly wouldn't go for it and you're gonna have a hard enough time trying to get a black for president which i don't think is going to happen anyway... nah, don't buy it at all...
Posted by: the queen | Aug 22, 2008 11:09:47 AM
James Buchanan, 15th prez, was never married and was suspected of being of our ilk.
'Circumstances surrounding Buchanan and King's close emotional ties have led to speculation that Buchanan was America's first homosexual president'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan
Posted by: bading | Aug 22, 2008 11:10:52 AM
She doesn't come out for the same reason that some gays and lesbians vote Republican -- internalized self-loathing.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 22, 2008 11:11:27 AM
The religious right would be out in full force, scaring the bajeebus out of everyone at the prospect of the GAY AGENDA ruling the nation!! And as usual, fear would probably conquer. Hide your kids!
I really doubt a majority of people would actually support a gay president. There would be homophobic concerns that our nation would appear "weak" to the world, that we're setting a bad role model for kids, etc etc. Oh yea it sounds nice on paper, believing in 'equality' and all, but as Mike said before, what people say to pollsters to sound like gracious open-minded people is one thing and what they do in their actions is quite another. Look no further than the overwhelming passage of gay marriage bans across the nation for indication of its 'support' of homosexuality.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 22, 2008 11:19:16 AM
I think it's really "special" that the majority of those polled would vote for an openly gay Presidential candidate. I also think it's a load of bull. It's one thing to answer a pollster's question when there's no accountability for your answer and it's quite another to "put your money where you mouth is" and actually support equal rights for the LGBT community. I'd gladly support an openly gay Presidential candidate when I can legally marry my partner in all 50 states and enjoy the 1000+ federal benefits associated with that federal acknowledgement of my nearly 10 year relationship. I wonder how many would respond in the affirmative if the question were "Will you support a Presidential candidate committed to giving full equality to LGBT Americans?"
Posted by: Jay | Aug 22, 2008 11:23:47 AM
As usual, Wes, you want to sntch defeat from the jaws of victory.
You people are so fucking hung up on the way you were treated in high school that you can't get beyond it and become adults!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 22, 2008 11:34:12 AM
Zogby isn't exactly batting 1000 when it comes to getting accurate information from the American public. He also predicted a landslide win for Kerry in '04...
Posted by: NaughtyLola | Aug 22, 2008 11:35:39 AM
They're currently having trouble with a *brown* one. No way in hell a gay candidate would be voted for. Sorry.
Posted by: Raybob | Aug 22, 2008 11:37:06 AM
David, did you actually mean to submit that on this post?
Posted by: Nick | Aug 22, 2008 11:41:41 AM
Yea David, because clearly gay people have acheived 'victory'.
Progress is a long battle. We're not there yet unfortunately, sorry that I don't buy that an openly gay candidate for President could actually win in 2008 America, but its just my opinion. You'll need more than a Zogby poll to convince me otherwise.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 22, 2008 11:54:10 AM
I can only imagine the photoshop opportunities on Fox... I keep envisioning an image of the vice president in a sling in the East Room being dildoed furiously by a group of Japanese businessmen.
I'm just a little concerned that THAT image leaped to my mind with such immediacy and ease. Maybe I should lie down now.
Posted by: The Milkman | Aug 22, 2008 11:54:49 AM
I most certainly did. I'm 61 years old. The better part of those years have been spent as a gay activist. All I've every heard from the "gay community" (a compedium of dutchies, paralyzed with fright and self-loathing) is "Oh we CAN'T possibly come out!'
and once out
"Oh we CAN'T possibly do that" (ie. anything to defend ourselves when attacked)
"There are SO MANY of them! There are SO FEW of us! We should be glad when any of them LIKE us even just a little bit. That's the best we can hope for!"
And on and on and on and on.
I've known drag queens with bigger balls than half you people!
In fact I've known transgenders with bigger balls that the better part of you!
GET A PAIR AND GROW THE FUCK UP!!!!!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 22, 2008 12:00:05 PM
Nice that they said "openly" gay members in the Senate. If you count Lindsey Graham, Larry Craig and Herb Kohl there are three in the current Senate.
Posted by: Mr Man | Aug 22, 2008 12:07:31 PM
I don't believe it for a second.
Posted by: paul | Aug 22, 2008 12:31:37 PM
ANDY -- Polls should not be published that only interviewed 1000 people. As a powerful press, you should refuse to publish them and let the pollsters know. In Canada our polls of 1000 have a 3.5% margin of error -- so since you have 10 times our population, can this have a 35% margin? I'm sorry, I just don't buy it.
Posted by: Strepsi | Aug 22, 2008 12:34:48 PM
Wow, so in the comments to just one post, David first gets to tell me for whom I have to vote, and then how I need to run my life. I was thinking of having spaghetti for dinner tonight--perhaps I should run that by you as well.
Posted by: Scott | Aug 22, 2008 12:36:09 PM
I gotta say - WHAT A STUPID QUESTION....Here, in America..? A Gay President? LOL You gotta be kidding me...this backwards,brainwashed nation full of Buy-Bull beaters who believe the earth is 6000yrs old,adam and eve BS etc etc....THIS NATION IS WAY TOO PRIMITIVE,BIGOTED,DISCRIMINATORY,HATEFUL AND.... FOR THAT TO EVER HAPPEN! Liberty and Justice for All...are Pretty words..but just that - words...EMPTY WORDS!
Posted by: Disgusted American | Aug 22, 2008 12:42:08 PM
What kind of pasta sauce were you planning to use, Scott?
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 22, 2008 12:42:56 PM
What does not believing America would vote for a gay person have to do with balls? What are we supposed to do, tell them to vote for the gay at gunpoint? That'll show 'em we're not afraid!
Really, I'm glad you're a frantic gay activist, its great to have you around. But I have no idea what rose-colored glasses you must be wearing to think America would elect a gay candidate in the current political climate. Sorry if you can't handle a simple disagreement based in reality without acting like a child, despite the fact that you are probably older than most of us here.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 22, 2008 1:14:06 PM