Dean First Choice For Gays Straw Poll Shows

[dajabr]

(Washington, D.C.) A survey taken at Pride events in three major cities shows that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has emerged as the most favored candidate by gays and lesbians.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force randomly surveyed 1,471 participants at Gay Pride events in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, DC in June.

Thirty-two percent of those planning to vote in the Democratic Primary said they would support Dean.

This was nearly three times the percentage backing the next most popular candidate, Senator John Kerry, who had the support of 10% of respondents. Senator Joseph Lieberman was third with 7% support.

Congressman Richard Gephardt had 6% support while former Senator Carol Moseley Braun received 5%.

Sen. John Edwards got 4%; Rev. Al Sharpton 3%, Congressman Dennis Kucinich 2%; and Sen. Bob Graham 1%.

Twenty-eight percent of those planning to vote in the Democratic Primary were undecided on a candidate.


http://www.365gay.com/NewsContent/080403deanPoll.htm

[ProfessorPlum]

1. Whoo-hoo! Queer eye for the Dean guy.

That is a population which usually is relatively politically active and has a fair amount of disposable income. (If I might generalize a bit). Good for Dean!

[dajabr]

2. Nice one! Way to combine...

Two of the hottest "flavors of the month" in one pun :-)

[killbotfactory]

3. Great! Dean has a wonderful record on gay rights.

Governor Howard Dean, in his State of the State Address before the Vermont Legislature on January 7th, included support for the full civil rights of lesbians and gays in his agenda for the current legislative session.

"I also ask this General Assembly to continue Vermont's strong tradition of civil rights by passing the gay rights bill so that no group of Vermonters suffers from bigotry and intolerance."

February, 1992

OITM: Would President Dean have signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)?

Dean: No.

OITM: What is your position on the bill proposed by Nancy Sheltra (R-Derby) that would make same gender marriage in Vermont illegal?

Dean: I don't support that. I think we have to see what the courts say before we react preemptively. There is a very difficult issue here and that is that the institution of marriage, from a non religious point of view, provides a huge number of civil rights that are not available to people who are not married. That issue has to be addressed. If it isn't going to be addressed in terms of marriage, it has to be addressed a different way. But I don't think it is appropriate for the legislature to get involved until we know what the ground rules are.

May, 1998

As I reported in the January edition of Out in the Mountains, seventeen GLBTQ youth met with Governor Howard Dean this past November. He expressed great support for gay/straight alliances and took a firm stand against homophobic harassment in schools. "At the meeting with Governor Dean," accounts Cindy Marcelle, a teenager from New Haven, "I stopped seeing him as a man on the 6:00 news. I started seeing him as a father, an ally; and most of all, as a friend." Since then, Dean has written a letter to school principals in support of GLBTQ youth and worked with Marc Hull, the Commissioner of Education.

June, 1998

Is there any gay or lesbian voter who would not stand in line on Election Day to vote for Governor Dean? If I were eligible to vote in Vermont, I would literally crawl, swim, walk over hot coals (whatever I had to do) to cast my vote for him. I realize that I am the ultimate "flatlander" "a Texan" but also I have been a political activist in our movement for 29 years. I know this is true: we must, we absolutely must stand up for those who have stood for us. Howard Dean backed civil unions and signed the bill that gave ALL of us in the United States the most sweeping set of legal rights in our lifetime.

October, 2000

"What I need to get across to the gay community and our allies is that Dean, although a centrist Democrat, has put himself on the line out there on civil unions and the community as a whole," Lippert stressed. "He has steadfastly recognized civil unions as a civil rights issue. I absolutely support his re-election despite differences on other issues. This is not the time for gays and lesbians to turn our backs . He has earned our support over and over."

September, 2000

As Governor, Dean has historically sided with Vermont’s gay and lesbian community. He is credited with helping pass and ultimately signed into law legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He also supported the extension of benefits to the domestic partners of Vermont State employees. In 1994, Dean appointed Bill Lippert, an openly gay man, to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. As a result of Vermont’s civil union law, The Advocate, a national gay newsmagazine, dubbed him the "Dean of Unions."

December, 2002

[dsc]

4. For a variety of reasons

this poll is probably not a great indicater. The crowds at Gay Pride events are not representative of gays and lesbians as a whole. It is good news but not as good as could be.

[Nicholas_J]

5. And no matter how much

You guys attack my analysis

There is a large portion of the gay population who did not like Deans stance, or his vagueness on gay support prior to the decision.

My sister is gay, and her partner mopvef from Vermont to Florida, largely on account of the decision Dean made. That is just a single anecdote, but a significantly large portion of th gay community thinks of Dean's decision as creating an apartheid type decision, having set gay rights furtther back in a legal sense, rather than advnaceing towards equal rights.

The fact that Dean did not pull better than thrity odd percent in a highly activist group is fairly indicative that Dean has some support, but not enough from gays.

[dsc]

6. Let me get this straight so to speak

You sister moved from the only state in the entire union which permits civil unions, one of the very few which permits joint adoptions by gay couples, one of around 10 which has ENDA all signed or affected by Dean BTW to a state that not only has none of those things but is one of either 2 or 3 in which gays can't adopt at all. Sorry but if that is why she moved then she is just not thinking.

[ProfessorPlum]

7. Yes, that story doesn't pass the smell test, I'm afraid.

the decision in VT was a step in the right direction, at least, and a huge victory at best.

Marriage is a weird, amphibious, religious/civil institution. The decision made civil union equivalent to marriage in the civil part, and left the religious part alone, as it should have. AND it afforded gay couples rights, benefits, and responsibilities they did not have access to before.