National
Trans voters excluded in election exit poll
Polling firm retained by TV networks, AP will continue to measure gay, lesbian & bisexual voters
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.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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