Poll shows coming out wouldn't hurt

Poll shows coming out wouldn't hurt most politicians 72 percent of Americans would vote for gay candidate if they agree on issues

By DYANA BAGBY

A poll released Monday by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute shows that a majority of Americans would continue to vote for a politician who shares their policy views even if they later found out he or she was gay.


Robin Brand of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund said a recent poll offers an 'extremely positive' message about voters' willingness to support gay elected officials.
Conducted by Zogby International, the Victory Poll surveyed 1,007 people this spring and found that 72 percent of Americans do not believe a politician's sexual orientation is important as long as the candidate has a record of "getting things done for everyone in the community," according to a press release.
These numbers show a decrease in concern about candidates' sexual orientation over the last two decades when compared with poll numbers quoted by openly gay U.S. Sen. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) at a Utah Stonewall Democrats fundraiser April 21.
Frank, who came out as gay in 1987 when he was 47, had already served in Congress for three terms. He said a poll conducted at the time that asked if voters "were disappointed that he was gay" showed 42 percent thought his open homosexuality would hinder him and 21 percent said they would stop voting for him, according to an April 22 article in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Robin Brand, senior vice president for politics and strategy for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Monday she was unfamiliar with Frank's comments, but noted that there is a difference when asking solely about politicians' sexual orientation versus asking about their sexual orientation in conjunction with their political views.
"If you only ask about their sexual orientation, it's different than putting this in context of issues they are fighting for," Brand said. "If you ask that question in a vacuum, answers will be different."
The Leadership Institute, which works to ensure gay inclusion in the electoral process and educate Americans about the contributions of gay elected officials, is a separate non-profit group affiliated with the Victory Fund, which supports openly gay candidates for public office.
Times were also different when Frank came out and people's attitudes toward lesbian and gay politicians are changing, Brand added. And the fact that Frank, who has served in Congress since 1981, continues to be reelected is proof his sexual orientation was not a major factor, she said.
Other findings of the Victory Fund poll:
• 60 percent of Republicans agree that sexual orientation is not important if a gay candidate has a strong record of getting things done for everyone;
• 80 percent of independent voters would "definitely" or "probably" still vote for an elected leader who shares his or her views if the official came out as gay or lesbian; as would 80 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans; and
• 72 percent of voters in small cities and 70 percent of voters in rural areas say they would "definitely" or "probably" still vote for an elected leader who shares his or her views if the official came out as gay or lesbian.
"This poll is extremely positive," Brand said. "It's not surprising, although the numbers were higher than I expected. But these are the kinds of results we are seeing on Election Day — our candidates are well-qualified and working on issues important to voters in their districts."

© 2006 A Unite Media Publication

Candidates Can Down Load Coming OUT Kit Here

The Coming Out Toolkit from The Victory Fund also includes both qualitative and quantitative research. The qualitative research conducted by Lake Associates and quantitative research conducted by Zogby America, evaluates the political climate for LGBT officials and offers strategies and information for those ready to serve as openly LGBT leaders.
The Zogby results can be found here