Contact: Jeffrey S. Garber, president

OpusComm Group, Inc.

834 Oakwood Street

Fayetteville, NY 13066

www.opuscommgroup.com



The gay voter: the older, the more well-to-do…the more Democratic

 

88% of GLBT respondents are registered to vote

 

Nearly 7% of the females and 6% of the males are undecided

 

9 out of 10 GLBTs will cast their votes to Kerry

 

 

Syracuse, New York – October 15, 2004 -  It comes as no surprise that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a solid hold on the gay and lesbian vote. But Kerry’s strength grows in gay and lesbian households as age and income increases, and with those who are partnered, legally coupled or married.

 

The annual Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census, fielded this past July and August by GLCensus Partners (a Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, OpusComm Group partnership), found that of registered voters 55 years and older, nearly 84% of females and 75% of males identified themselves as Democrats. (Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 68.8% of males and 67.4% of females identified themselves as Democrats.)

 

When asked to registered voters: “Who would you vote for if the presidential election were held today?” 90.4% of female respondents and 88.6% of male respondents said they would vote for Kerry. President Bush was the pick of 4.4% male and 1.5% female registered voters. Ralph Nader has 1.4% of female and .8% of male respondent votes. Of those registered respondents, 82.7% of male voters and 76.3% of female voters were in households that had incomes of $40,000 or more. The median household income in the United States is approximately $42,000.

 

“The GLBT community appears to have strong feelings about the race,” said Jeffrey S. Garber, president of OpusComm Group. “Republican politicians tend to give tax incentives to those with higher incomes, but it appears that GLBT people aren’t as concerned with tax cuts verses other issues that affect their daily lives both at home and at work.”

 

Of those registered to vote, 83.5 % of those with household incomes of less than $19,999 would vote for Kerry; 90.2% of households with incomes of $100,000 or more would do the same.

 

Nearly 8,000 GLBT people completed the annual Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online  Census study this summer. “Drawing a true random sample of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people is highly problematic," said Dr. Beth Barnes, fellow researcher of the original GLCensus survey, and now a consultant to the project and Director of the School of Journalism & Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky. "The GLCensus approach of providing an anonymous Internet-based means of expressing opinions is not projectable to the entire GLBT population in the U.S., but does represent the largest single respondent panel from all 50 states and provides a snapshot of the GLBT voter pool."

 

Syracuse University Professor Amy Falkner, lead researcher for the GLCensus, believes the support for Kerry indicated by respondents is a result of President Bush’s stand on same-sex marriage.

 

“The push for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages has not set well with gay and lesbian voters, be they Democrats or Republicans,” she said, noting that Log Cabin Republicans, a gay political organization, has not endorsed Bush for president.

 

Among those who said they are registered as Republicans, 50% of male respondents say they will vote for Kerry and 17.3% are undecided. Among female registered Republicans, 49.1% say they will vote for Kerry and 26.8% are undecided.

 

There are a smaller percentage of respondents who have not yet decided how to cast their ballot. 6.4% of respondents (6.7% of women and 6.2% of men, respectively) said they were unsure of which candidate to vote for at the time of the survey. Of that group, for male respondents, 30.6% are registered Democrats; 29% are registered Republicans; 24.3% are Independents. For female respondents, 40.9% are registered Democrats; 17.5% are registered Republicans; 25.1% are Independents.

 

“This is a pivotal election for the GLBT community and it’s clear they are concerned about who will sit in the oval office the next four years,” Falkner said. “They are registered to vote in higher percentages than other populations. This is a pattern we have seen in consecutive surveys.”

 

Of the survey respondents, 88% said they were registered to vote. In the last presidential election, according to the U.S. Census, 70% of Americans were registered to vote.  

 

The voice of the gay and lesbian respondents was very united. "Please get the word out … we are here, we vote!" wrote one person who took the survey. Respondents are allowed to write in comments anonymously at the end of the survey.

 

 

 

 

Of those male respondents who say they are registered:

72.1% are registered Democrats

10.3% are registered Republicans

12.9% are registered Independents

4.7% are registered for other party affiliations

 

Of those female respondents who say they are registered:

76.7% are registered Democrats

4.3% are registered Republicans

12.9% are registered Independents

6.1% are registered for other party affiliations

 

Of those who are registered to vote, the following have children under the age of 18 living at home:

4.8% of male respondents

20.3% of female respondents

 

Of those who are registered to vote, the current same-sex relationship status among males is:

44.7% are single or single and dating

46.3% are partnered

5.8% have had a civil union, civil registration or same-sex marriage ceremony

 

Of those who are registered to vote, the current same-sex relationship status among females is:

26.9% are single or single and dating

59.1% are partnered

9.2% have had a civil union, civil registration or same-sex marriage ceremony

 

Of those who are registered to vote, party registration broken down by same-sex relationship status.

 

Males

 

Single

Partnered

Civil union/Civil registration/marriage

Democrat

69.6%

74.1%

76.6%

Republican

11.3%

9.1%

9.2%

Independent

13.3%

13.0%

9.2%

 

Females

 

Single

Partnered

Civil union/Civil registration/marriage

Democrat

73.9%

77.9%

78.4%

Republican

4.9%

4.0%

4.7%

Independent

13.6%

12.7%

11.0%

 

 

 

 

Of those who are registered to vote, voter preference if the 2004 presidential election were held today broken down by same-sex relationship status:

 

Males

 

Single

Partnered

Civil union/Civil registration/marriage

John Kerry

85.9%

89.9%

93.4%

George Bush

5.5%

4.0%

1.7%

Ralph Nader

1.5%

.5%

1.2%

Undecided

7.1%

5.6%

3.7%

 

Females

 

Single

Partnered

Civil union/Civil registration/marriage

John Kerry

89.8%

91.3%

91.6%

George Bush

1.3%

1.6%

1.3%

Ralph Nader

2.7%

.8%

1.7%

Undecided

6.2%

6.3%

5.5%

 

 

 

Registered voters broken down by political party, age and gender

 

Democrat

 

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

Males

68.8%

71.4%

71.6%

73.0%

74.7%

Females

67.4%

74.1%

78.8%

78.7%

83.3%

 

Republican

 

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

Males

8.7%

8.4%

10.6%

11.2%

12.6%

Females

3.0%

5.8%

4.0%

3.7%

3.4%

 

 

 

 

 

Independent

 

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

Males

13.7%

14.5%

12.5%

12.6%

14.0%

Females

13.9%

12.9%

12.3%

13.9%

10.9%

 

Other party affiliation

 

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

Males

8.8%

5.7%

5.3%

3.2%

1.3%

Females

15.7%

7.2%

4.9%

3.7%

2.4%

 

 

 Survey conducted: The survey was conducted online from July 12 through midnight August 23 2004.

 

  Survey security: Respondents are allowed to take the survey only once. Respondents are screened through e-mail security measures to ensure this happens.

 

 Survey methodology: Please see our methodology statement at our web site at http://www.glcensus.com/downloads/Why_Online_Surveys.htm

 

The GLCensus Partners is a partnership between the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and advertising and public relations firm OpusComm Group, Inc., which specializes in consultation of sensitivity issues and market plan development for all types of advertisers to target the GLBT community.

 

 For further information and to review a full summary of the “Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census”, contact Jeffrey Garber, president of OpusComm Group at jeff@opuscommgroup.com (315) 637-2018 or visit www.glcensus.org.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALL INFORMATION IS TO BE ACCREDITED TO:

 

GLCensus Partner (www.glcensus.org) Study - A Syracuse University and OpusComm Group research partnership

 

GLCensus Partners (www.glcensus.org)- The world leader in GLBT consumer research, includes:  

 

- The S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University  (www.syracuse.edu) - One of the world’s leading academic and research institutions in the field of communications.

 

- OpusComm Group (www.opuscommgroup.com) - Innovative Advertising, Marketing, Communication, Research and Public Relations experts on the Gay/Lesbian market.