Nearly 70% of LGBTQ likely voters prefer Biden over Trump, GLAAD poll finds

LGBTQ registered voters are highly motivated to make their voices heard in the November election, and the vast majority of them plan to back President Joe Biden and other Democrats further down the ballot, according to a poll released Thursday by the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD.

The poll found 94% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer registered voters are likely to cast their ballots in November, with 68% of them supporting Biden and 15% supporting former President Donald Trump. In battleground states, Biden’s support rises to 72%, while Trump’s remains at 15%, the poll found.

The poll was conducted in late January before Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee.

Pathfinder Opinion Research, which conducted the poll, is led by longtime Democratic pollster Bryan Dooley. Pathfinder surveyed 1,000 registered voters, who included a random sample of both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ respondents. An oversample of LGBTQ voters was also surveyed, for a total of 869 LGBTQ respondents across the main sample and the oversample.

“LGBTQ Americans are ready to exert their significant power to shape electoral politics, choose responsible leadership, and use their voices to advocate for equality,” GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement released with the survey results. “Candidates, parties, strategists and reporters are on notice about the power of the LGBTQ vote and the issues that should be demanding attention, including our fundamental freedoms and everyone’s safety and well-being.”

GLAAD also asked LGBTQ voters to rank their two most important issues and found that 38% indicated “inflation/high prices” as a top concern. Abortion, the economy and climate change also emerged as top issues.

In fact, the majority of voters surveyed said they’d like to see candidates spend more time focused on issues related to the economy and health care and less time debating gender-affirming care for trans youths. Nearly 95% of LGBTQ likely voters and 76% of all registered voters agreed that “Republicans should stop focusing on restricting women’s rights and banning medical care for transgender youth and instead focus on addressing inflation, job creation, and healthcare costs.”

“The majority of all voters reject harmful anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and candidates who spread it,” Ellis said. “Voters are insisting that politicians focus instead on the real issues facing our nation, including inflation, abortion rights, and climate change.”

When it comes to trans youths, 81% of all likely voters agreed that parents should be the ones making decisions about their children’s care. Over 80% of swing state voters and 73% of Trump supporters surveyed also agreed.

The LGBTQ voting bloc

According to a report released in October 2019 by the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ think tank at UCLA School of Law, nearly 9 million LGBTQ adults were registered to vote ahead of the 2020 election, with 50% of registered LGBTQ voters identifying as Democrats, 15% as Republicans and 22% as independents.

A similar GLAAD poll conducted in September 2020 found that 74% of LGBTQ registered voters backed Biden for president.

Since then, LGBTQ issues have become a lightning rod in Republican politics. Lawmakers nationwide have backed and signed bills into law that restrict teaching LGBTQ issues in schools, ban books with LGBTQ themes and restrict trans youths’ ability to use school bathrooms and participate in sports teams that align with their gender identities.

The political discourse has taken a toll on the community, the poll shows. Almost 75% of those surveyed in January said the current discourse negatively affected their mental and emotional well-being. Nearly 60% also said the discourse made them fear for their families’ safety.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com