Subject: ELECTION POLL SHOWS GLB SUPPORT
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 1994 15:04:12 -0500

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PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE

               THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND                    

The Nation's Largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Political Group   
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To contact the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND, please call us at     
(202)628-4160, fax us at (202) 347-5323 or write to us at PO Box 
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   THURSDAY, NOV. 17, 1994

            POST-ELECTION POLL FINDS CONSENSUS ON GAY ISSUES: 
           GOP, DEM AND INDEPENDENT VOTERS SUPPORT EQUAL RIGHTS
                                     
     WASHINGTON -- An election-night poll of people who voted in
the 1994 midterm elections showed that the voters who changed the
face of Congress continue to support ending discrimination
against lesbian and gay Americans.  In the first ever
post-election poll that measured voter attitudes toward gay
people, majorities of Republican, Democratic and Independent
voters supported equal rights for lesbian and gay people, who
face widespread and legal discrimination with no protection from
federal law.  Voters also strongly supported increased efforts
against HIV/AIDS, and expressed worry about a "religious right
wing agenda."

     "These findings show broad support for equality for lesbian
and gay Americans in the midst of the Republican sweep," said Tim
McFeeley, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
(HRCF), which commissioned the nationwide poll.  "Voters of all
political stripes value fairness and inclusion, and key blocks of
swing voters are especially supportive of gay people.  In voting
booths and opinion polls, voters have sent a clear message that
their vision of change includes equal rights for lesbian and gay
Americans." 

     The poll, conducted Nov. 8 and 9 by the independent firm of
Mellman Lazarus Lake, Inc., surveyed a random sample of 800
people who had voted in the midterm election.  The margin of
error is +/- 3.5%.  Among the findings:

     - 70 percent of those surveyed said gay people should not
face unfair job discrimination, but rather have "equal rights in
hiring and firing" -- with 77 percent of Democrats, 71 percent of
Independents and 64 percent of Republicans supporting the idea;

     - 57 percent supported the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act, a federal bill that would "extend current civil rights laws
in the workplace to cover gays and lesbians" to protect people
from job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
                                     
     - 78 percent favored "increasing efforts for AIDS research,
prevention, and care";

     - 40 percent were more worried about a "religious right wing
agenda" than a "gay agenda" (21 percent);
     
     - 54 percent opposed efforts to exclude "homosexuals from
teaching in elementary and high schools"; and

     - 54 percent opposed "eliminating from public schools and
libraries any books or course materials that teach about
homosexuality."

     "Voters support the value of hard work, and believe no one
who wants to do their job and pay their taxes should be singled
out for discrimination," McFeeley said.  "These findings reflect
election results in Idaho and Oregon, where voters rejected
anti-gay initiatives that would have singled out lesbian and gay
people for unfair treatment.  Virtually all of the incumbents who
cosponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act won
re-election, and new supporters have joined the ranks of those in
Congress who favor equal rights in the workplace for all
Americans."

     Voters in Oregon and Idaho rejected ballot initiatives that
would have imposed discrimination and denied basic rights to
lesbian and gay people by repealing or blocking laws prohibiting
anti-gay discrimination.  In Congress, of 32 Senate cosponsors of
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, all 13 who were up for re-
election won their races.  Of 120 House cosponsors running for
re- election, 110 won, and ten newly elected Members have pledged
to support the bill.

     A study released prior to the election by the respected
Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press reported that the
most important swing voters in the electorate -- representing 20
percent of registered voters -- are "highly tolerant of
homosexuality." Among the general population, Times Mirror said,
"We found at least one important change in public tolerance in
the last four years -- a sharp decline in homophobia."

     "These polls and election results show a continuing trend
among voters in support of fairness and equality," McFeeley said.
"We look forward to working with the new Congress to further
these values."

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