Nearly 70 percent of Americans are okay with a gay president

[DonViejo]

By Eugene Scott
April 4 at 2:52 PM

-snip-

According to a recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans said they would be either enthusiastic or comfortable with a candidate who is gay or lesbian. To put that in perspective, less than half — 45 percent — of Americans hope that the United States would elect a female president in their lifetime, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey.

Elliot Imse, spokesman for the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a group that helps elect gay people to office, told The Fix that Americans’ views on LGBTQ people in politics have changed with other cultural shifts.

“It’s extremely exciting to see Americans become more supportive of LGBTQ candidates in the same way they’re becoming more supportive of LGBTQ rights generally,” Imse said. “I think the two are very much trending in line with each other. As acceptance of LGBTQ people has grown, LGBTQ candidates can be open and honest about their lives from the beginning, allowing them to control the narrative and focus on the issues they want to talk about.”

Millennials are the largest voting bloc in the country, and it’s easy to attribute the attitudinal change primarily to these younger voters, who generally have more liberal positions on social issues. But that doesn’t totally explain the pivot. According to NBC, “While seniors are more likely to voice reservations about gay candidates, a majority (56 percent) now say they have no objections. That’s up from just 31 percent in 2006.”

To those who have fought for equal rights for the LGBT community for decades — this year is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, largely viewed as the beginning of the gay rights movement — this change in the public’s support is considered progress. But others argue that it should not be interpreted as a place of arrival.

Drew Goins, an opinion writer for The Washington Post, wrote that gay candidates seeking high offices still face very real challenges:

“The idea that it’s not hard to be gay in America is ludicrous. The United States is still new to marriage equality. A majority of states have no LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws. There’s been only one openly gay man elected governor and no such senators (Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is the chamber’s lone lesbian, and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema is bisexual), let alone president. The gains have been hard-won, and they’re still tenuous. Support for LGBTQ rights is dropping among Republicans — and the Supreme Court is being reshaped in ways that could make future victories harder to come by and past progress harder to maintain.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/04/nearly-percent-americans-are-okay-with-gay-president/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am a proud part of that 70%.

I hope I get to vote for Mayor Pete. His orientation should not be a factor.

[RockRaven]

2. I think the nastiest stuff isn't going to be directed at the first gay POTUS, but the first

First Gentleman. Just a hunch, but I suspect a lot of these people who say they'd be okay with a gay POTUS will still have quite a lot to say about a gay POTUS's spouse.

[DrToast]

3. I hope that number is legit

People may not want to tell a pollster they’re opposed to a gay President, but when they’re all alone in the voting booth their true feelings may come out.

[Liberal Veteran]

8. I have similar feelings about that.

As a gay man, I'm proud of a lot of the changes I have seen over the last few decades, but I have a nagging suspicion that bias against gays is probably still greater than what that poll would indicate. Like many forms of bias, it isn't as socially acceptable to publicly admit one's bias, but I don't think things changed that quickly or to the extent polling might have one believe.

[TruckFump]

4. I have no problem with any kind of a POTUS as long as he or she is a good one.

Color, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation -- I don't give a damn.

I am pleased to see the 70% -- and hope that it gets higher as people see what a fine person Mayor Pete is. Best to him and his spouse.

[RKP5637]

5. Excellent! My interest is in a quality president and not a jerk like tRump! n/t

[doc03]

6. That may be true in America but not in the states Trump

carried. Unless we win the EC Trump will be elected again.

[akraven]

7. I mentioned this the other night and my rabidly straight husband said

"what the hell does who they have sex with deals with governing"?

[Demsrule86]

9. But do they live in mi wi, and pa....I don't know.