LGBTQ women less likely to vote than LGBTQ men: study
Project LPAC has found that while LGBTQ women are a distinct political demographic, they’re less likely to vote than LGBTQ men.
The group’s research shows that there’s a good opportunity for candidates and advocacy groups to take on and gain the political support from queer women, which is estimated to number 6.4 million.
Earlier, the Williams Institute at UCLA reported that more than one in five LGBTQ people (21%) aren’t registered to vote. NewNowNext has determined that there are nine million LGBTQ voters.
LGBTQ women have their own priorities
The research done by Project LPAC is the first in-depth examination of the political engagement of LGBTQ women. The data was taken from 1,501 voting age adults, 645 of whom identity as LGBTQ.
“For the first time, we understand how to excite people across our community about political engagement as a result of this trailblazing work,” said Stephanie Sandberg, Executive Director of Project LPAC.
Among their findings is that queer women are politically engaged and value voting and collective action. However, they’re less likely to vote than queer men.
In their survey, 72% of queer women said they are “almost certain” to vote in the upcoming November as compared to 85% of queer men.
Moreover, they are more likely than queer men to become politically involved in response to learning about LGBTQ discrimination.
They’re also more likely than queer men to donate their time and money to issues and causes they care about, with 36% of LGBTQ-identified women donating time or money compared to just 9% of the general population.
Other findings of Project LPAC study
More importantly, LGBTQ women prioritize a unique set of issues above LGBTQ men, as well as the adult population as a whole.
These range from LGBTQ equality, healthcare, and prescription drug prices, to the environment and climate change.
56% reported that President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban is pushing them to vote as compared to 41% among queer men.
Meanwhile, 66% of queer women said employment discrimination will push them to vote as compared to 59% of queer men.
On housing discrimination, 60% of queer women vote on that issue compared to 47% of queer men.
What’s more, queer women believe that women– and LGBTQ women in particular– are underrepresented in government.
They also believe that they are the best equipped to take on relevant policy issues.
LGBTQ women are not monolithic, also diverse
Not surprisingly, the research noted that LGBTQ women also have their differences on their priorities in terms of ethnicity, age, and gender identity.
Among their findings, 20% of queer women of color were likely to prioritize candidates who look like them, i.e. shared their background or identity.
Likewise, younger women were likely to support non-binary, transgender, and LGBTQ candidates as compared to older women.
However, trans or gender nonconforming respondents said they were more likely to be involved locally but not vote in federal elections.
More transgender voters want to do more to become politically engaged with 46% saying they would do more to get involved if candidates spoke on their issues.
This is compared to 22% queer women saying the same and 6% of the general population.