‘Marriage equality in focus in U.S. polls’

The issue of marriage equality (same-sex marriage) is in greater focus in the upcoming U.S. presidential polls with an increase in visibility of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) groups, according to Human Rights Campaign, a non-profit advocacy organisation, which has endorsed the Hillary Clinton's candidature.

“A majority of the voting population supports marriage equality, a key focus of politicians. This year there is a lot at stake for the LGBT community,” Jeremy Pittman, deputy field director, HRC, Washington, said on Friday during a virtual discussion on 'Sexual Rights as an Electoral Issue and the Role of LGBT Community in U.S. Elections' at the U.S. Consulate here.

According to Mr. Pittman, exit polls after the 2012 presidential elections pegged the number of LGBT voters (excluding transgenders) at six million. “President [Barack] Obama won by just under five million votes. In 2012, LGBT voters accounted for five per cent of the total vote. This is a sizeable voting block. We do want to have an impact in the presidential race, but our main job is advocacy,” he said.

Since 2004, there is a growing support for LGBT concerns, such as appointments in administration positions, passage or veto of Equality Act, setting of US foreign policy on LGBT rights around the globe, apart from marriage equality.

“From 2004 to 2012 the landscape has shifted for LGBT equality in polling, especially marriage equality,” Mr. Pittman said.

Surveys say nine out of 10 voters know at least one gay, lesbian or bisexual person, deepening the sway of LGBT issues in the elections.

Greg Reisher from the Legal Managed Services Division, Thomson Reuters, Mumbai, said the thrust of LGBT advocacy was in non-discrimination policies at workplaces and government offices. “When marriage equality first started, no one wanted to touch it, but today it has become important,” Mr. Reisher said.

The writer is a freelance journalist

Surveys say nine out of 10 voters in the U.S. know at least

one gay, lesbian

or bisexual person