Gays Heart Hillary, and Love Politics

Lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans who plan to vote in the Democratic presidential primaries overwhelmingly favor Senator Hillary Clinton.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans who plan to vote in the Democratic presidential primaries overwhelmingly favor Senator Hillary Clinton, according to the results of a national survey released on November 29. She enjoys the support of 63 percent of likely primary voters, followed by Senator Barack Obama with 22 percent, and John Edwards with seven percent.

Among likely Republican primary voters, support for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was at 37 percent, followed by Senator John McCain at 13 percent.

The Hunter College Poll, conducted with 768 respondents by Knowledge Networks from Nov 15 through Nov 26, also found that lesbians, gays and bisexuals become more liberal during the “coming out” process, and they are more engaged in politics than the general population.

Thirty-three percent of all respondents said they are “very interested” in politics compared to 22 percent of the Knowledge Networks general population sample, and 36 percent said they became more interested in politics during their “coming out” period. Lesbians, gays and bisexuals, for instance, were more likely than the general population to have contacted a government official in the past 12 months, at 23 percent compared to 16 percent.


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