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Trans voters excluded in election exit poll

Polling firm retained by TV networks, AP will continue to measure gay, lesbian & bisexual voters

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Voting booth, gay news, Washington Blade

As it has in the past, the LGB vote will be counted in national exit polls, but questioners won’t be asked if they are transgender. (Photo by Serenity via Wikimedia)

A national polling firm retained by a consortium of five TV networks and the Associated Press will include gay, lesbian, and bisexual voters in its presidential election exit poll on Nov. 6.

But Joe Lenski, executive vice president of the New Jersey based Edison Research polling firm, told the Blade on Thursday that the exit poll won’t seek to identify transgender voters through a lengthy questionnaire given to voters as they leave polling places across the country.

“We’ve tried to keep that wording as consistent as possible across elections and that’s the way it’s been asked in the last decade at least,” he said.

Since the early 1990s, a consortium of networks including NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and Fox along with the Associated Press has hired a polling firm to conduct a national exit poll for each presidential election. The consortium has also commissioned an exit poll for the midterm congressional elections during that same period.

In the 2000, 2004, and 2008 presidential elections, 4 percent of those participating in the exit poll answered yes to the question, “Are you gay, lesbian, or bisexual?”

In 2008, 70 percent of those self-identifying as “LGB” said they voted for Barack Obama for president and 27 percent said they voted for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, according to results of the exit poll obtained and published by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

In 2004, 77 percent of the LGB participants said they voted for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, with 23 percent saying they voted to re-elect President George W. Bush, information released by Roper show.

In 2000, 71 percent of the GLB respondents said they voted for then Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, and 25 percent said they voted for then Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican. Four percent reported voting for Ralph Nader and 0 percent said they voted for Patrick Buchanan, the data released by Roper show.

Lenski said some media reports that the exit poll would be scaled back this year due to budget cuts at the networks don’t appear to be accurate.

“We actually are lowering the sample sizes in the non-competitive states and increasing them in the competitive states and the national survey,” he said. “So we actually have more precincts and more interviews that are going to be conducted in the national survey this year than four years ago.”

He said in-person exit polling will take place in 350 locations around the country with over 3,000 telephone interviews of early voters scheduled to take place. Over 20,000 voters will be in the sample nationally, Lenski said.

All participants in the exit poll, including the LGB participants, will be asked questions on a wide range of issues and demographic factors such as their party affiliation; their age, race, sex, income, and level of education; and the most important quality they feel a presidential candidate should have, Lenski said.

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Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

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U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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