According to a 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll, 50 percent of Americans would support having an openly gay president.
Bad news: That seems unlikely.
Thanks to the last Presidential election, we've all heard of the Bradley effect: voters tell pollsters that they'd vote for the black guy/woman/gay person, but then in the polls they vote for the same white male they always have.
They want to give the answer that's more socially acceptable.
This poll isn't asking the harder question - whether the person being polled would vote for a gay President. It's just asking if they would support a gay person once they magically made it into office (hear that, Charlie Crist? You can stay closeted, come out later when you've won the office, and people will support you. Maybe).
Yet 50 percent of the people polled said yes, they would. A gay President is A-OK with them.
Good news: If this indicates that the Bradley effect may now apply to us, it is a welcome sea change.
The President question is only one question, of course, in a silly (if scientific) poll that also asked whether someone would rather visit Bourbon Street, Graceland or Nashville.
And admittedly, the question also primed the person being polled to feel positively toward us. It said:
"The military's 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy-prohibiting openly gay soldiers from serving in uniform-may soon be changed. Would YOU SUPPORT OR OPPOSE having an openly gay person serve in any of the following roles?"
As we know, an overwhelming majority of Americans now support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. So they probably were feeling kindly toward us patriotic gay people before the full question was asked.
And then the poll gets stranger. After asking about whether Americans would support a gay President (50 percent support), it lists Supreme Court Justice (55 percent), Secretary of State (56 percent), Commissioner of Baseball (61 percent!) and Super Bowl quarterback (62 percent!!!!)
Honestly, the only thing that seems less likely to be than Americans currently supporting a gay President is Americans supporting a gay Super Bowl quarterback.
Still, the point holds: Americans are becoming more sensitive to the idea that it is not OK to discriminate against gay people.
So what the question was really asking was: Do you feel like it's OK to be homophobic in public, to a stranger?
And the answer to that, it seems, is starting to be "No."
Finally.
This is just one step in a long series of steps toward equality, but it is an important one. Americans who are afraid of being labeled homophobic by a stranger in public (even by someone as innocuous as an anonymous over-the-phone pollster) are less likely to actually discriminate against gay people. They're less likely to call us names; less likely to allow their kids to bully us in school; less likely to fire us when they find out we have a same-sex partner; less likely to legislate against us.
This is very different from 25 or 30 or 40 years ago, when it seemed like the "natural" thing to do was to find gays and lesbians unnatural. And it is very, very different from the days when straight Americans could not even imagine gay people openly holding any kind of public office, let alone the most highly respected one.
It is steadily becoming more true that being anti-gay is not OK.
Being unwilling to be seen as homophobic in public is a long way from helping us gain full equality, of course.
And it is unlikely to translate into actual votes.
But it is an important step.
10 Comments for “Gay for President!”
posted by Bobby on
Look, if the first gay president is going to be a disaster like Obama, then I say please God save us from that embarrassment. Minorities are out of control, the oval office is not supposed to be some kind of affirmative action office where every 4 or 8 years we elect a different minority and then get to brag about how he’s the first Asian president or the first Hispanic president. Besides, I don’t need another minority in the White House if his minions in the media are going to call me a racist every time I disagree with his policies. If the American people had known that, they would have never voted for Obama. Yet what happened? Obama sold himself as a uniter and yet his minions go out there saying that the Tea Parties are racist just because of a few kooks. Today I saw a black conservative who has spoken at dozens of Tea Parties saying that he has never encountered any racism there. Frankly, I’m sick of minority presidents using the minority card. First Obama gets elected and then he appoints Sotomayor, the woman who claims to be wiser than white people just because she happens to have latina experiences. This is bullshit, I want the best person for the job! Gay president? Only if he’s a gay George W. Bush or a gay Ronald Reagan or Richard Nixon.
posted by george on
Wow! you’ve been called racist why? Because you are “sick of minority presidents using the minority card”? Just how many minority presidents have we had? Oh, that’s right…Clinton was “the first black president” according to some…so I guess that makes it two!
I suppose that since I’m an Obama supporter, that makes me one of his “minions.” And, yes, I still support him. Even the most heinous of our elected leaders deserve more than a 14 month opportunity to accomplish things. After all, they’re in office for a 4-year period once elected, arent’ they?
Perhaps you’ve been called a racist or a bigot incorrectly, Bobby, but you sure give your accusers a lot of rope with which to hang you. And did we get off-track here?
Jennifer, this is a delightful column you’ve written, with some good hard facts and some good insights. It’s true, I believe, that those polled were being given the opportunity to show their non-homophobia in public and that’s undoubtedly how the majority reacted. And I have to laugh at the selections, too – a gay quarterback in the Super Bowl – is that what we’re striving for?
posted by Top Gay Hotels on
I dont expect USA to get any gay presidents in my lifetime span. A lesbian is more probable. dont you think so?
posted by Bobby on
“Wow! you’ve been called racist why? Because you are “sick of minority presidents using the minority card”? Just how many minority presidents have we had? Oh, that’s right…Clinton was “the first black president” according to some…so I guess that makes it two!”
—I’m glad you brought Clinton up, I remember Billy facing ridicule because he was from Arkansas, yet can you imagine anyone making fun of Obama because his middle name is Hussein and getting away with it? Do you see Saturday Night Life ridiculing Obama the way they ridiculed Bush and Clinton? No. What I do see is the Tea Partiers being called “racist” just because they disagree with Obama’s policies on issues that have nothing to do with race.
“I suppose that since I’m an Obama supporter, that makes me one of his “minions.”
—Well, I’m referring to the democratic party, the liberals on cable and broadcast TV, the charlatans at PBS, Time, Newsweek, pretty much everyone other than Fox News, NY Post, Washington Times and a few other media channels.
“And, yes, I still support him. Even the most heinous of our elected leaders deserve more than a 14 month opportunity to accomplish things. After all, they’re in office for a 4-year period once elected, arent’ they?”
—You do realize that in one year he has spent more money than Bush did in 8 years. You call that fiscally responsible? He said that if we passed the bailout unemployment would not go higher than 8%, yet unemployment today stands at 10%, in some parts of the country it’s 17%. Obama has broken so many promises, it’s really shameful.
“Perhaps you’ve been called a racist or a bigot incorrectly, Bobby, but you sure give your accusers a lot of rope with which to hang you. And did we get off-track here?”
—That’s another problem this country has, now to be called a racist you don’t even have to use the n-word or write a book like The Bell Curve where you argue that whites are more intelligent than blacks. Now anyone can be labelled racist, I remember when Bill O’Reilly praised Silvia’s restaurant in Harlem how his enemies said he was a racist. And because Obama is the first black president, progressives think that anyone who disagrees with him is a racist. See? If Hillary Clinton had won we would be able to criticize her without being called racist.
Either way, the next time Americans vote for a minority I just hope he or she is a republican because republicans never play those games.
posted by george on
the odds of a minority of any stripe running for president as a republican are pretty slim. they thought michael steele was a worthy representative after all. i suppose jc watts could run, of course.
i like how you use the word “progressive.” that’s one of the buzzwords used by beck – an “ought-to-be-certified” nutcase. if that’s your milieu, so be it. sorry about that.
posted by FuturePresident on
I think the stigma against gays runs even deeper than the stigma against black people that Obama was able to successfully overcome. You still hear about people being raped in prison, hatred spread online on http://www.dirtyphonebook.com where people make hit lists of gay phone numbers, and even school-children being bullied. I don’t think we’ll see an openly gay president for a while.
But honestly, I care more about their policies than their orientation. That’s the way it should be.
posted by Bobby on
“I think the stigma against gays runs even deeper than the stigma against black people that Obama was able to successfully overcome.”
—Stigma against blacks? What are you talking about? Now there’s stigma against whites, males, Christians, fat people and anyone who doesn’t fit in with the progressive agenda. If anything, plenty of people voted for Obama BECAUSE he is black and they were desperate to have a black president no matter how liberal he was. Think about it, even Colin Powell suddenly stopped using his brain and decided to endorse him! I’ll give Powell credit for changing his mind on DADT, but there was no excuse to endorse Obama who was ranked as the most liberal in the senate.
Powell like plenty of other people simply stopped thinking and got caught into the emotional real. Remember all those fears about John McCain dying and Palin becoming the president? I’m telling you, lots of moderates and independents got caught with the hysteria progressives made. The good news is, Obama can’t fool them again.
posted by george on
bobby, you must be a child of the 90s or something; to have missed all the years of degradation, discrimination and humiliation rained down on people of color. oh…sorry…i guess saying that makes me a “progressive.” so be it.
and if palin was in office, it would be the first certified buffoon to hold the post. i hope i never see that day.
yeah we white guys have it tough, don’t we?
posted by Bobby on
“bobby, you must be a child of the 90s or something; to have missed all the years of degradation, discrimination and humiliation rained down on people of color.”
—Why are we focusing on the past? You’re right, I was born in 1975, I did not see segregation, what I have seen is how some radical black activists will call you a racist if you dare to criticize Badu for violating the law by taking her clothes off in a public street.
What I see is the liberal media talking about the “racism” of Tea Partiers when in reality they don’t have one single video of any of them shouting the n-word even thought Brett Bair offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College if they can find that evidence. As for the “spitting” incident, well, some people when they shout give you spittle, that’s not spitting, that’s shouting!
I’m sick of the race-based policies this country has adopted. In the ad industry for example, an industry based on TALENT, they race-activists want to increase diversity and force agencies to hire more minorities and if you criticize them they will label you racist.
College itself has changed since you graduated. Now having an affirmative action bake sale is likely to violate college policies, what you will see is professors indoctrinating the kids with tales about white-priviledge, the evils of zionism, how America is a “racist” country and all kinds of leftwing propaganda.
“yeah we white guys have it tough, don’t we?”
—So you think policies should be made on the perception of who has it easier and who has it rough? Whites don’t benefit from affirmative action, they can’t apply to pro-diversity scholarships, remember the Jason Blair scandal? If Jason had been white he would have been fired a lot quicker than he did.
Oh, and when are black guys ever accuse of racism? Why do you think that Farrakhan sometimes is only covered by Fox News? Why do you think that Obama was able to see Jeremiah Wright for 20 years and not get tainted by his association? Yeah, there is a double-standard and it is pro-minority.
Well, I’m sick of it if you where a fair and balanced person, you’d be sick of it too. Except for gays, minorities have MORE than equality in this country, they have special rights, and it’s time to say a stand and say “no more!”
posted by Christo Pace on
According to Wikipedia, this nation has already had a lesbian First Lady … Rose Cleveland.
Ms. Cleveland was the sister of the 22nd/24th president, Grover Cleveland. Rose Cleveland served as her bachelor brother’s hostess during his first years in office. Grover Cleveland eventually married Frances Folsom, his ward and the daughter of one of his law partners
According to Wikipedia, Ms. Cleveland was partner with Evangeline Simpson; they separated when Ms. Simpson married a widowed Episcopal bishop. After the bishop died, the two woman partnered and eventually shared a gravesite in Italy.