"God, Guns, Gays" a Stretch for Average Voters

[LiberalHeart]

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Scriptural references are flying like a plague of locusts in one of America's most watched governor's races this year. Yet only about half of Ohioans belong to a church. Voters have been told that Democratic nominee Ted Strickland is a friend of the National Rifle Association and that his Republican rival Ken Blackwell is a gun-owning Second Amendment supporter. But, of 11 million Ohioans, only about 400,000 hold a hunting license or concealed carry permit.

Rounding off this holy political trinity of hot-button issues -- "God, guns and gays" -- Ohio's governor candidates are also at the ready with their positions on traditional vs. same-sex marriage.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Census, only a fraction of 1% of the state's residents reported they were gay or lesbian living with a partner in 2000. The highest estimates put the nation's gay and lesbian population at around 5%.

(good article: examines the open manipulation of voters' fears)

More:
http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5215413

[babylonsister]

1. LiberalHeart, pls. add OH. before Voters in your subject line.

Makes a world of difference to people who have been tracking the OH shenanigans!

[LiberalHeart]

3. Alas, it's too late to edit the message ....

In the rules, they say to use the exact headline ... but other info can be included in parens. I'll try to remember in the future.

[rodeodance]

2. yes, it is a ood article.

[krkaufman]

4. "nation's gay and lesbian population at around 5%"

I thought the oft-quoted stat was that 1-in-10 people were gay. No?

[megatherium]

5. Depends on your definition of gay.

The 1 in 10 number I believe comes from some old research by Kinsey: 1 in 10 males had sexual contact to the point of orgasm with another male. I don't think this number is taken as reliable nowadays, Kinsey's work was criticized as relying on poor samples of men (too many prisoners, etc). But it still doesn't answer the question as to how many gay people there are, because some straight people have same-sex sexual contacts (e.g., in prison or just out of curiosity) while some people who are really gay never act on their desires (because they are afraid to, or think it's wrong). A gay person who has ever had sex with someone of the opposite gender would be classified as straight by anti-gay activists, while gay activists might suppose that anyone who has ever had same-sex contact is really gay deep inside.

I believe modern research says the following: If you do careful scientific surveys, you'll find only about 1 to 2% of the male population self-identifies as gay. (The number for urban areas is more like 4%, evidently because gay people congregate in big cities.) But the same surveys also indicate that maybe 6% of the male population will admit some same-sex attraction. I have read that if instead of surveying people, researchers conduct in-depth interviews (which allows some level of trust to develop), figures of 6% or more for gayness are found.

[krkaufman]

7. Thanks for the reply. n/t

[slackmaster]

6. I'm SO glad I'm not an "average" voter

An average voter has one ball and one tit, and votes for Democrats and Republicans in roughly equal number, with a few token nods to Libertarians, Greens, etc.

[benEzra]

8. They underestimate gun ownership like they do the % of GLBT's

by counting only a subset of the population. Not all GLBT's are open and live with a partner.

Nationally, only 1 in 5 gun owners is a hunter, and for Ohio the percentage is likely lower than that. And Ohio has had CCW licensure for, what, one year?

On the gun issue, the more relevant statistic would be what percentage of households owns a pistol or a nonhunting style rifle or shotgun (which the Bradyites are trying to restrict), a figure that would likely be in the millions.

[idgiehkt]

9. well, they eliminated the relevance of the guns and gays part

If they measure out how many people in that demographic actually follow the teachings of the bible, well, the whole election platform is statistically irrelevant.