Majority Would Support Qualified Gay Candidate for Office

The Advocate is reporting the results of a new Zogby poll. And frankly, I find the results puzzling. If Americans would support such a person to be their leader, why do they object so strongly this person marrying the person he or she loves?

Following an Advocate article pondering the electability of an openly gay candidate for president, a new nationwide poll from Zogby International found that 65% of likely voters would support an openly gay person to serve as President of the United States if they believed he or she was the most qualified person for the post.

The results were similar for a vice presidential candidate, with 66% saying they would back a gay VP whom they believed had the right skill set, and 69% said they would support an out candidate for the U.S. Senate. More than 70% of respondents said they would support an openly gay person to serve as a cabinet-level secretary.

“These results prove that most Americans want to be fair to gay people. Our aspiration is to always see each other as individuals first, and though we may not always succeed at that, our underlying fairness and decency means that one day soon we will. This marks tremendous progress for our community and for the voting public,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI), a non-partisan leadership development organization.