A new study finds that 92.5 percent of gay men and nearly 91 percent of lesbians voted in the 2004 presidential race.
Anyone want to take a guess at which party is NOT going to get these votes? Hint: It's the party that will NOT be attending Thursday night's LGBT issues presidential forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign.
Thursday night, six of the Democratic candidates will attend the first ever presidential forum held to address issues that matter to gay and lesbian voters. Panelists will include: Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese, singer Melissa Etheridge and Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart.
But back to the numbers -- the high gay voter turnout compares to a mere 61 percent of all Americans eligible to vote in 2004.
Don Frederick at the LA Times reports:
The figures "demonstrate ...
that the political parties would be smart to pay attention to the issues that mean the most to gay and lesbian voters,” said Tom Roth, president of Community Marketing. “We have far more at stake than the average voter and we’re therefore far more engaged in the political process.”
Indeed, the turnout results were released --- not coincidentally --- as the Democratic presidential contenders prepare to meet in Los Angeles Thursday night for the first candidate debate sponsored by gay groups and devoted to issues of particular interest to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The forum likely will become the subject of its own debate: is the gathering a wise political move by the Democrats? The Community Marketing findings provide powerful ammunition for those arguing it is.
In raw numbers, the survey estimates that gay voters total close to 9 million. In the 2004 election, about 122 million Americans went to the polls.
Gay Lesbian Vote 2008 Hillary Obama Edwards Democratic Candidates News Politics Gay Presidential Forum
