LGBT News HRC Report Tracks Pres. Obama's Use of Word "Gay", Linked to Further Equality

BryanM · Jan 24, 2014

Human Rights Campaign said:

A new HRC report shows that President Obama’s unprecedented usage of words including “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual” and “transgender” in his public statements is contributing immensely to the political mainstreaming of LGBT people and marriage equality within American society. The report, which also examines the public statements of former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, found that President Obama has used the word “gay” more than any of his predecessors – 272 times. The report shows that during President Obama’s time in office, support for marriage equality has exploded from 40 percent in 2008 to 53 percent in 2013.

Key findings from the report include:

Throughout his time in the White House, President Obama has said the word “gay” in a public speech, statement or proclamation at least 272 times.
President Obama has used the word “transgender” at least 33 times in speeches, statements and proclamations. He’s used the word “bisexual” at least 28 times, and “lesbian” at least 88 times.

On the 2012 campaign trail, Obama used the word “gay” 62 times at rallies and fundraisers. Mitt Romney spoke about marriage equality only once, and it was in the context of excluding loving, committed same-sex couples from marriage.

In his two terms in the White House, President Clinton used the word “gay” 216 times in public speeches, statements or proclamations, of which 46 instances were regarding gays in the military and 80 instances were regarding Matthew Shepard or hate crime legislation.

President Obama has consistently emphasized that rights and the pursuit of success should not be denied to anyone based on whom they love.
Since President Obama has been in office, the percentage of Americans who support marriage equality has risen from 40 percent in 2008 to 53 percent in 2013, according to Gallup polling.

Immediately following President Obama’s 2012 endorsement of same-sex marriage, the number of African-Americans who supported marriage equality skyrocketed to 59 percent, up from an average of 41 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The rising tide of public support for marriage equality has been reflected in opinion shifts by prominent GOP lawmakers as well. Republican Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Kirk and Lisa Murkowski have all endorsed marriage equality. And in February 2013, more than 150 Republicans signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit striking down Proposition 8.
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More + Full report link here: HRC Report Tracks Pres. Obama

I bolded important information in the quote as well.

Estival · Jan 24, 2014

Awesome! I'm not going to go into politics, but this is one thing I like about Obama.

jargon · Jan 24, 2014

This feels like part of a string of studies which walk a very thin lines towards conflating correlation with causation, as they say - assuming that because two things happened around the same time one must have caused the other.

Granted, I'm sure Pres. Obama's willingness to talk openly about homosexuality has done lots of good, and I always like seeing the stats.

BryanM · Jan 25, 2014

jargon said: ↑

This feels like part of a string of studies which walk a very thin lines towards conflating correlation with causation, as they say - assuming that because two things happened around the same time one must have caused the other.

Granted, I'm sure Pres. Obama's willingness to talk openly about homosexuality has done lots of good, and I always like seeing the stats.
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Yes, I am a very strong believer that correlation does not always mean that there's a causation between two data sets. I believe that part of the growing acceptance of the LGBT community and the lessening stigma of being LGBT is strongly affected by having positive role models who are LGBT (Ellen Degeneres and Neil Patrick Harris, for instance) in media, and other big people in the country speak out in support for LGBT rights. President Obama's new found stance on marriage equality (Which wasn't really new found at all, he just waited until it was politically expedient to "evolve" his stance) may not be directly related to the poll numbers, but I think as a whole, him and numerous others speaking out has in some way caused those poll numbers. I can't wait to see if the poll numbers nationwide for SSM grow up to 60% support by this summer.

LGBT News HRC Report Tracks Pres. Obama's Use of Word "Gay", Linked to Further Equality

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LGBT News HRC Report Tracks Pres. Obama's Use of Word "Gay", Linked to Further Equality

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