Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 18:32:30 -0400 From: NGLTF Subject: NGLTF Media Advisory: The GLB Vote and Congressional Elections ======================================================= MEDIA ADVISORY ======================================================= National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 2320 17th Street NW € Washington, DC 20009-2702 http://www.ngltf.org Contact: Tracey Conaty, Communications Director 202-332-6483 x3303 800-656-6476 pager tconaty@ngltf.org THE GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL VOTE AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS WHAT: Out & Voting: The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Vote in Congressional House Elections, 1990 - 1996. A new, major study on the gay, lesbian, and bisexual voting block. WHEN: Wednesday, September 16; 10am - 11am WHERE: National Press Club Building, Lisagor Room 529 14th St. NW; Washington, DC WHO: Robert Bailey, Out and Voting author A briefing on the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual vote and its significance Brian Bond, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund Report on the 1998 congressional campaigns of out lesbian and gay candidates Urvashi Vaid, NGLTF Policy Institute Director The current prominence of GLBT issues in the national political debate Rich Tafel, Log Cabin Republicans The gay Republican vote and the battle for the heart of the Republican Party Daniel McGlinchey, National Stonewall Democratic Federation Growing recognition of the GLB community by Congressional Democrats Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director - moderator WHY: The GLB vote is larger than the Asian, Jewish, and Latino votes - and it is growing. Very little study has focused on the role of the GLB vote in Congressional elections, and very little research has explored the political and social profile of the GLB vote and its potential significance in House races. Out and Voting shows that just as race, religion, income, education and geography have all been identified as factors influencing voter choice, sexual orientation must now be added to the mix. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has worked to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level since its inception in 1973. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. -30- _________________________________________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Media Department. 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You may also unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ngltf.org. =========================================================== Date: Wed, 16 Sep 98 13:52:00 -0400 From: NGLTF Subject: NGLTF Releases New Report on GLB Vote *********************************************** NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRESS RELEASE Contact: Tracey Conaty, Communications Director 202-332-6483 ext. 3303 800-757-6476 pager tconaty@ngltf.org http://www.ngltf.org 2320 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 *********************************************** GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL VOTE: SIZEABLE, SIGNIFICANT, BIPARTISAN, AND GROWING TASK FORCE RELEASES FIRST-EVER STUDY ON THE ROLE OF THE GLB VOTE IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS "Out and Voting is a wake up call to the major parties, to congressional candidates, and to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community itself. Our vote can make a difference. The voting booth is not the closet it once was." ---Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director. WASHINGTON, DC---September16, 1998---The gay, lesbian, and bisexual electorate in America is sizeable and growing and could be especially influential in mid-size city congressional elections. An off-year election, combined with the Clinton crisis, portend a very low turn out in November ­ adding even greater potential significance to the GLB vote. Today, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) released "Out and Voting: The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Vote in Congressional House Elections, 1990­1996." The report is an in-depth profile of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) voting block and the first-ever analysis of the impact of this emerging constituency in national congressional elections. "Out and Voting is a wake up call to the major parties, to congressional candidates, and to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community itself. Our vote can make a difference," said Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director. "The voting booth is not the closet it once was," she added. The GLB vote receives far less attention from the major parties, candidates, and the media as compared to other voting blocks. Yet, the report demonstrates, at five percent the GLB vote is as significant as other definable segments of the electorate (Latinos 4.5 percent, Jews 3.4 percent, and Asian Americans 1.1 percent.). In addition, the report shows the GLB vote to be growing over time. Self-identification among GLB voters jumped from 1.3 percent in 1992 to five percent in 1996. The report was authored by Dr. Robert Bailey of the Rutgers University School of Public Policy and Administration and produced by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Among the report's findings is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the strength of the GLB vote is most significant in medium sized city congressional districts. Bailey shows rates of voter self-identification to be highest in medium sized cities (8.9 percent in 1996). "Out and Voting" also shows the GLB vote to be bipartisan. More than one out of four (28 percent) GLB voters in the 1996 election voted Republican. According to Vaid, director of NGLTF's Policy Institute, "Such electoral diversity and fluid loyalty should send a signal to Democrats that they should not take the GLB vote for granted and to Republicans in swing districts that they dismiss this vote at their own peril." Along with an important message to Democrats and moderate Republicans that the GLB vote should be considered seriously, the findings of Out and Voting also sound an alarm to GLB voters themselves. According to Urvashi Vaid, "The GLB vote is just beginning to be harnessed by our movement. The Bailey report sends the important message that the votes we cast add up -- but we must take our power at the polls seriously." The report was released at a press conference today at the National Press Club. Dr. Bailey presented on the findings of the report. Vaid spoke about the current prominence of GLBT issues in the current political debate and the impact the Clinton crisis may have on the GLB vote. Rich Tafel, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, discussed the gay Republican vote and the battle for the heart of the Republican Party. Daniel McGlinchey, National Stonewall Democratic Federation interim executive director, talked of the growing recognition of the GLB community by congressional Democrats. Kathleen DeBold, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund political director, provided a briefing on the 1998 congressional campaigns of out lesbian and gay candidates. Winnie Stachelberg, Human Rights Campaign political director, discussed community voter mobilization and key House races. NGLTF executive director Kerry Lobel moderated the press conference. The "Out and Voting" report is free to the press and can by obtained by contacting NGLTF communications director Tracey Conaty at (202) 332-6483 ext. 3303. The report is also available to the public for $10. Orders can be made by calling (202) 332-6483 ext. 3327. The report can also be accessed from NGLTF's web site at www.ngltf.org. -30- _____________________________________________________________________ Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. _________________________________________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Media Department. If you have a question regarding this post, please direct it to the contact at the top of this message. If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, please send an email with "UNSUBSCRIBE PRESSLIST" in the subject and body of your email message to . You may also unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ngltf.org. =================================================================== Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 19:13:07 -0400 From: Jason Riggs Subject: NGLTF Releases Report on GLB Vote The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is a think tank dedicated to research, policy analysis and strategic projects to advance greater understanding and the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL VOTE: SIZEABLE, SIGNIFICANT, BIPARTISAN, AND GROWING TASK FORCE RELEASES FIRST-EVER STUDY ON THE ROLE OF THE GLB VOTE IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS "OUT & VOTING: The Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Vote in Congressional House Elections, 1990-1996" by Dr. Bob Bailey with an introduction by Rich Tafel. This report is an in-depth profile of the GLB voting block and the first-ever analysis of the impact of this emerging constituency in national congressional elections. The full report is available to download at http://www.ngltf.org , in addition the report is available to the press by contacting Tracey Conaty at (202) 332-6483 ext. 3303. Non-media requests for the publication can be made to (202) 332-6483 ext. 3327. The following is an EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of "Out and Voting" by Urvashi Vaid, Director of the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. __________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By Urvashi Vaid, Director of the Policy Institute of the NGLTF INTRODUCTION Out and Voting: The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Vote in Congressional House Elections, 1990 - 1996 chronicles an unheralded revolution: It marks the steady coming out of a gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) electorate (data do not yet track transgender voters). This report represents the first-ever analysis of the impact of this emerging GLB constituency in national congressional elections. Through a dispassionate analysis of exit-poll data gathered over the past four mid-term election cycles, Professor Robert Bailey paints a picture of a substantial vote, which surprises not only in its size but its distribution nationally and its bi-partisan nature. For a country and political parties not used to seeing the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community as an identifiable electorate, the 5 percent of the vote that GLB people represented in 1996 exit polls will come as a startling revelation. In the context of the extraordinarily low voter turnout during the past five midterm elections, averaging 37.9 percent according to political analyst Stuart Rothenberg (Roll Call, November 6, 1997), the GLB vote becomes even more important. 1998: A HISTORIC MID-TERM ELECTION YEAR ON GLBT ISSUES The Bailey report itself comes in the midst of an unprecedented 1998 congressional election year, one that is quite unique in the political history of GLBT civil rights movement. The 1998 election year has been marked on one hand by a dramatic increase in congressional candidacies by openly gay and lesbian people. At least five openly gay or lesbian candidates have run for Congress this year, and at least three non-incumbents will be on the ballot in November - Tammy Baldwin (WI), Christine Kehoe (CA), and Paul Barby (OK) -- survived contested primary battles to become their party's nominee in the general election in November. On the other hand, this election year has been marred by troubling expressions of explicit homophobia by current and very senior members of Congress. Senator Trent Lott called GLBT people sinners, betraying a serious bias in policy matters affecting our civil equality. Senator Lott's recent comments were widely publicized and condemned, but they came as no surprise to GLBT advocates who have heard him say the same things in an anti-gay propaganda film (The Gay Agenda) produced by the extremist right. The long-standing and intimate association that Senator Lott enjoys with the radical right is also enjoyed by other leaders. Indeed, moderate Republicans who support GLB equality risk strong reaction from the party's far-right base. Throughout this mid-term election year, the radical right has employed anti-GLBT sentiment to whip up its base of support. They have done this through a massive $400,000 advertising campaign, through a number of homophobic ballot initiatives that the same organizations waging the media campaign have pushed, through anti-civil rights measures promoted by the right's supporters in Congress, and in a pitched battle inside the Republican Party to oppose GLBT equality. The advertisements were cloaked in the rhetoric of compassion, but embodied a far more pragmatic and political agenda: to dent the progress that GLBT people are making and to energize the right's voting base with inflammatory appeals. The producers of the ex-gay advertisements oppose equal rights for GLBT persons and indeed support criminal laws against homosexuality. They promote not only therapeutic notions discredited by the American Psychological Association, but also mask an unconstitutional, explicitly theocratic agenda in the language of individual spiritual redemption. The right's homophobic agenda was dramatically advanced in February of 1998 in Maine, with the defeat of the state's law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. A bill that took 20 years to pass through the state legislature and executive branch was erased by a sophisticated campaign that appealed to people's fears and misperceptions about civil rights laws in general and GLBT people in particular. Emboldened by the victory in Maine, the radical right focused on several other strategic ballot measures, including anti-marriage initiatives in Hawaii and Alaska (on the ballot in November) and anti-civil rights initiatives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Fort Collins, Colorado (on the ballot in November) and in Ypsilanti, MI (defeated in 1998). At the congressional level, 1998 has been marked by vigorous fights over a wide range of anti-GLBT measures. From the blocked appointment of proposed Ambassador Jim Hormel, to the effort to overturn President Clinton's executive order banning discrimination against GLB people in the federal civilian workforce (the Hefley Amendment), to the effort to ban same-sex adoptions in the District of Columbia, homophobic measures in Congress abounded. In addition, the radical right has waged a vigorous campaign inside the Republican Party of many states to prevent moderation on GLBT rights issues. Matching the right at every step have been advocates with the Log Cabin Republican clubs. No battle in 1998 was more dramatic than the one inside the Texas GOP this past summer, a battle which resulted in a historic meeting between Log Cabin Republicans and RNC Chairman Nicholson. THE CLINTON CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT Throughout this year, the country has been riveted by a sex scandal enveloping the President, a scandal that has resulted in some significant changes in the mindset of the American electorate. New polls, such as the Battleground '98 poll by the Tarrance Group and Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates reveal a clear impact on and shift in the public's thinking. According to both Republican analyst Ed Goes and Democratic analyst Celinda Lake, the clearest impact of the Clinton sex scandal has been to raise the priority of "moral values" in the minds of the American public. The Battleground Poll shows that 14 percent of Americans rank moral values as the most important issue facing the country today, ranking it as intensely as crime and drugs. In addition, 22 percent say that moral values ought to be the top focus of Congress. Both Goes and Lake agree that the country generally favors Republican candidates over Democrats in moral values debates. The impact of this revival of moral issues on the public's support of GLBT civil rights may not be significant on two fronts. First, we have long noted -- and recently documented -- the parallel trend in public opinion between moral condemnation on one hand and strong majority support for civil rights on the other (see New York Times 5/31/98 article on the NGLTF Policy Institute¹s public opinion report From Wrongs To Rights). Such long-standing data suggest that the rise in the prominence of moral issues does not necessarily translate into opposition on GLBT civil rights measures. In addition, one of the most pernicious myths about the GLBT community put out by the radical right is that we are a value-less and amoral people: a conclusion based in nothing but rank prejudice. Certainly exit poll analysis of the concerns and issues about which GLB voters care reveal a very different story. They suggest that GLB voters share the general public's views on the importance of values, even if we hold different views on what those cultural values ought to be. Given the historically low turnout in mid-term elections, conventional wisdom holds that the House elections in November will be won by the party able to turn out its base. With the Clinton presidency in the midst of its greatest crisis, there is great concern among Democrats that many voters, particularly Democrats, may choose to stay home this November. There are great hopes among Republicans that their voters will turn out in greater numbers than anticipated in reaction to President Clinton's trials and tribulations. Some analysts believe that voter turnout among GLBT people will increase as fears rise that the Clinton crisis may threaten to produce a more homophobic Congress. In a low turnout election, specific voting blocks are even more significant than usual. Out and Voting suggests that the gay, lesbian, and bisexual vote could make a measurable difference for Democrats and Republicans alike this November. SPECIFIC REPORT HIGHLIGHTS Out and Voting is descriptive in nature. It uses as its base the exit poll data gathered nationally for news organizations by Voter News Service (VNS) and Voter Research & Surveys (VRS). Bailey's report confirms that the GLB vote is a sleeping giant, as yet largely untapped by either major party, but available to both. It suggests that in low-turnout elections, an electorate that is motivated by issues, as the GLBT community is, can be an important base for moderate candidates who are Republican, Democrat or Independent. And Bailey's review of data suggests that a concerted effort to mobilize GLB voters in swing districts might be a profitable strategy for the Democratic Party in particular. The GLB Vote Nationally is Significant and Large Based on exit poll data gathered by independent news organizations during the past four election cycles, this report establishes what may turn out to be the floor of a GLB vote in America to be five percent (5 percent). This number might well be the floor because so many GLB Americans remain in the closet to this day. Also, as Bailey notes, even higher rates of GLB self-identification are reported by voters under 40 (6 percent). This suggests that fear of disclosure of one's sexual orientation is abating for new generations of GLB people, and that younger voters may self-identify in larger numbers. The sheer size of this vote is important for a few reasons. First, much debate exists on how many GLBT people there really are. The extremist right has argued that the GLBT community is tiny (1 percent) and that it inflates its size. Bailey's review of the VNS/VRS data suggest that the GLB community is likely larger than the right pretends. As Rich Tafel argues in his introduction, while it is true that size does not matter and discrimination is always wrong, the numbers in this report should send a signal to both parties that a significant community (and voter base) awaits candidates who court it. Interestingly, the GLB vote, in national elections is as significant as other definable segments of the electorate. By comparison, African-Americans comprised 10.1 percent of those voting in 1996, Latinos 4.5 percent, Jews 3.4 percent, and Asian Americans 1.1 percent. Ethnic and racial voting blocks garner far greater attention from the major parties, candidates, and the media than the GLB vote ever has. Bailey's report should go a long way to redressing this disparity in attention. Finally, Bailey makes some useful observations about the increase in GLB self-identification over time. Self-identification among GLB voters has grown dramatically - from 1.3 percent in 1990, to 2.2 percent in 1992, to five percent of the electorate in 1996. The increase in voter self-identification over the six years of data studied must be interpreted in context: as part of the broader emergence of millions of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans. Bailey is appropriately cautious not to ascribe the increase in self-identification only to one or two factors: he carefully accounts for methodological changes in the VNS polling but concludes that even so, self-identification rates may rise even higher. Ideology And Party Affiliation Out and Voting confirms some conventional wisdom and contains some clear surprises about the ideological and party-alignment of GLB voters. On the one hand, the GLB voters identified through exit polls are more liberal on general issues than the average American voter and tended to vote Democratic during the national elections studied. On the other hand, Bailey's analysis reveals that a significant pro-Republican GLB vote also exists, and that conservatives and moderates comprise a significant sector of the GLB vote; in the 1996 election, approximately one in four GLB voters voted Republican. In fact, as Rich Tafel observes, the GLB community is one of the more diverse electorates in America, harboring a significant independent streak. The report shows that the GLB vote does move and shift allegiance, in response to what each party is doing on issues of importance to the GLB community. Such electoral diversity and fluid loyalty could ultimately be an important ingredient in the role the GLB vote plays in future elections. The message that GLB voters are weighing all their electoral options should send a signal to Democrats that this vote should not be taken for granted and suggests to Republicans in swing districts that they dismiss this vote at their own peril. Demographics Previous studies at the national and large city levels have shown that there is a coherent vote organized around sexual identity that possesses a socio-demographic profile, an agenda of specific policy priorities, and a predisposition toward government. By even the severest of standards of measurement, Bailey argues, these are characteristics of a stable voting group. The GLB vote in national elections is young, male and female, racially mixed, and appears to exhibit the same income distribution as found among non-GLB voters. Out and Voting pinpoints where this vote has its greatest potential: urban and medium sized city congressional districts. Surprisingly, it is in medium sized cities, rather than the largest cities, in which the GLB self-identification rates are at the highest (8.2 percent in 1992 and 8.3 percent in 1996). CONCLUSION The story of the GLB vote is just beginning to be told. We remain a vote that is untapped by major parties and only just beginning to be harnessed by the GLBT political movement itself. Massive voter registration, voter identification, voter education and turnout efforts could help shape the impact of our vote in future elections. The Bailey report should send a signal to the major parties and to GLBT political activists that the votes we cast add up - but we must take our power at the polls seriously. _________________________________________________________________ Distributed by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. If you would like to be added to email lists of the NGLTF please visit the NGLTF website at http://www.ngltf.org. To be removed from periodic updates of Policy Institute publications please email Jason Riggs at jriggs@ngltf.org with your request.