Gays and Lesbians outpace U.S. Average in Voting Participation.

As the 2008 Democratic presidential candidates prepare for the first LGBT-focused debate of the 2008 campaign in Los Angeles on August 9, a new national survey reveals that gay and lesbian consumers are far more likely to have voted in the last presidential and midterm elections than the population in general. Significant numbers of both gay men and lesbians also donated to a political party in the past year. The survey also found that despite significant social and political progress over the past decade, majorities of both gays and lesbians believe homosexuality will remain a “divisive” issue in ten years.

“The results of the Gay Consumer Index and Lesbian Consumer Index studies demonstrate that the political parties would be smart to pay attention to the issues that mean the most to gay and lesbian voters,” declared Tom Roth, president of Community Marketing, Inc. “We have far more at stake than the average voter and we’re therefore far more engaged in the political process.”

More than 92% of gay male respondents (92.5%) reported that they voted in the 2004 presidential election with nearly 84% (83.8%) reporting that they voted in the mid-term election in 2006. Results for lesbians were similar with nearly 91% (90.7%) of lesbian respondents reporting that they voted in the 2004 presidential election and 78% reporting that they voted in the mid-term election in 2006. In comparison, media reports estimate that 64% of the general population voted in the 2004 presidential election and just 40% of the general population voted in the 2006 mid-term election.

Slightly more than 31 percent of lesbian respondents (31.1%) reported that they made a financial contribution to a political party in the past twelve months. Forty percent (40.1%) of gay male respondents reported that they made a financial contribution to a political party in the past twelve months.

And finally, large majorities of gay male and lesbian respondents agreed with the statement that “homosexuality will still be a divisive issue in the USA in 10 years.” Slightly more than 73% (73.4%) of gay male and nearly 73% (72.9%) of lesbian respondents agreed with that statement. In general, larger numbers of older respondents agreed with this view than younger respondents with more gay male and lesbian Baby Boomers agreeing with the statement than gay males or lesbians born after 1980.

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