ABOVE: Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) and President Donald Trump. (Photos via Washington Blade)
Despite a recent assertion from Eric Trump the LGBTQ community has “come out in full force” for his dad, a new poll commissioned by the LGBTQ media watchdog GLAAD confirms the opposite is true and LGBTQ voters back former Vice President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump by a substantial margin.
The poll, conducted by Pathfinder Opinion Research between Sept. 21-25 among 800 LGBTQ adults, found LGBTQ likely voters support Biden over Trump, 76% to 17%, with 5% saying they plan to vote for another candidate and 2% unsure.
Additionally, 81% of LGBTQ respondents said they were more motivated to vote than in previous elections and 92% said they planned to cast a ballot.
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement on the polling results LGBTQ voters are poised to make a deciding difference this election year.
“Today’s poll demonstrates a monumental lead for Vice President Biden in the race for President,” Ellis said. “The poll should put to rest the misinformation from unreliable sources about where critical LGBTQ voters stand in this election, misinformation that’s unfortunately been repeated in the media.”
According to a Pathfinder Opinion Research memo, interviews for the poll were conducted online utilizing a national research panel.
LGBTQ respondents, the memo says, were selected to represent the national LGBTQ population based on demographic estimates published by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and weighted by gender, age, race, education and geographic region based on Williams Institute data.
Other key findings among LGBTQ respondents in GLAAD’s “State of LGBTQ Voters” poll:
• 88% of respondents report being registered to vote;
• 16% of LGBTQ respondents had a favorable opinion of Trump, while 75% had an unfavorable opinion;
• 57% of LGBTQ respondents had a favorable opinion of Biden and 25% had an unfavorable opinion;
• 13% of LGBTQ respondents had a favorable opinion of Vice President Mike Pence, while 65% had an unfavorable opinion;
• 50% had somewhat or very favorable opinions of Sen. Kamala Harris, with 32% having very favorable views of her;
• and 53% of LGBTQ respondents reported experiencing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
The poll is consistent with other polling data on the LGBTQ voters in the 2020 election, such as a Morning Consult poll in June finding Biden leads Trump among LGBTQ people, 64% to 19%, but stands to contrast to an informal survey of U.S. users of the gay dating app Hornet, which found 45% of LGBTQ men planned to vote for Trump.
Although that survey was highlighted by Tucker Carlson on Fox News and tweeted out by Trump, polling experts rejected the data in interviews with the Washington Blade and one called media coverage on it “clickbaity, sloppy journalism.”
Barbara Simon, a GLAAD spokesperson, told the Washington Blade the LGBTQ media watchdog conducted the poll as part of “ongoing research” and its mission to find accurate data on LGBTQ people, but acknowledged the Hornet survey played a role.
“We kept seeing from the White House press secretary and Ric Grenell and others (including Trump himself) unsubstantiated claims of LGBTQ support…the Hornet poll was in the mix of that,” Simon said. “Your reporting on the Hornet poll showed why that poll wasn’t reflective, at all (thank you). We wanted to conduct a poll to set the record straight on the misinformation in the media about where our community stands and gauge registration and voter enthusiasm.”
