{"id":12416,"date":"2016-10-25T15:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T20:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-voters-remain-a-solidly-democratic-bloc\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:17:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:17:13","slug":"lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-voters-remain-a-solidly-democratic-bloc","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/10\/25\/lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-voters-remain-a-solidly-democratic-bloc\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesbian, gay and bisexual voters remain a solidly Democratic bloc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gay, lesbian and bisexual voters may make up a relatively small share of the American electorate \u2013 just 5% of voters in the 2012 general election identified as LGB, according to national exit polls \u2013 but they have long been a deeply Democratic constituency and today are overwhelmingly negative in their assessments of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Nearly nine-in-ten LGB voters (89%) give the Republican presidential nominee a rating of cold on a \u201cfeeling thermometer\u201d that ranges from 0 (the coldest, most negative rating) to 100 (the warmest, most positive score). About eight-in-ten (82%) rate Trump very cold, including more than half (54%) who give him a score of 0. Just 9% of LGB voters rate Trump warm.<\/p>\n\n

By contrast, Hillary Clinton is viewed generally positively: 61% of LGB voters rate her warm, including 36% who rate her very warm. About three-in-ten (31%) give her a cold rating, including 24% who have a very cold view of the Democratic nominee.<\/p>\n\n

This analysis is based on data from Pew Research Center\u2019s nationally representative American Trends Panel<\/a>. The survey was conducted online from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10 among 4,132 adults, including 3,616 registered voters (167 of whom identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual).<\/p>\n\n

The presidential vote preferences of LGB voters this year are largely consistent with past elections. Nearly three-quarters of LGB voters (72%) back Clinton and just 13% back Trump, while 7% support Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and 8% back Green Party candidate Jill Stein. According to national exit polls<\/a>, about three-quarters of LGB voters (76%) voted for Barack Obama in the 2012 election, while 22% voted for Mitt Romney. And in 2014 midterm exit polls<\/a>, LGB voters favored Democratic candidates by a similar margin (75% to 24%).<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

LGB voters\u2019 Democratic leanings are also on par with recent years. About eight-in-ten LGB registered voters (82%) now identify with or lean to the Democratic Party, while 18% identify with or lean to the GOP. This party balance is similar to patterns seen in a 2013 Pew Research Center survey of LGBT adults<\/a> in which 79% of LGBT adults identified or leaned Democratic and 18% identified or leaned Republican.<\/p>\n\n

LGB voters are not only strong supporters of Democratic candidates; they also tend to have broadly liberal political values on a variety of topics, in some cases differing significantly from the views of the electorate as a whole. For example, 58% of LGB voters say government often does a better job than it gets credit for and 40% say it is inefficient and wasteful; but voters as a whole have the inverse view, with 40% saying the government does a better job than it gets credit for while 58% say it is inefficient and wasteful. On immigration, three-quarters of LGB voters (75%) say immigrants do more to strengthen the country than pose a burden (22%), compared with 61% of all voters who say immigrants do more to strengthen the country than pose a burden (32%).<\/p>\n\n

Note: Data in this post are based on self-identification as lesbian, gay or bisexual. This analysis does not include transgender voters (unless they also identify as LGB). Gender identity is measured separately from self-identified sexual orientation, and the American Trends Panel does not currently measure transgender identity. Overall, <\/em>transgender adults make up a relatively small share (roughly 5%) of the LGBT population<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LGB voters may make up a small share of the U.S. electorate, but they are a deeply Democratic bloc with overwhelmingly negative views of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"apple_news_api_pending":"1713063700","relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[],"bylines":[964,745],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-12416","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","bylines-jocelyn-kiley","bylines-shiva-maniam","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short 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