By JOSHUA LYNSEN, Washington Blade | May 1, 3:57
PM
Few gay Americans understand their basic rights,
according to an analysis released this week.
Based on the responses of 768 gays, lesbians and
bisexuals to a national poll given in November, the
analysis found that most respondents could not
correctly answer four questions regarding their state
and federal rights.
“I think ‘ignorant’ is the right word, unfortunately,” said
Pat Egan, an assistant professor of politics at New
York University who is gay and helped write the
analysis.
The poll by City University of New York’s Hunter
College asked whether same-sex marriages were
legal in the respondent’s state, if the U.S. Constitution
bans same-sex marriage, whether gays can serve
openly in the U.S. military and if there’s a federal law
barring the firing of workers based on their sexual
orientation.
Egan said only 38 percent of poll respondents
answered all four questions correctly.
“On one hand, that doesn’t surprise us,” he said. “On
the other, we would have liked to see these numbers
a little higher.”
According to the analysis, 94 percent of respondents
knew whether same-sex marriage was legal in their
state, 78 percent knew the U.S. Constitution does not
ban same-sex marriage, 82 percent knew they could
not serve openly in the military and 59 percent knew
there’s no federal law that bars workers from being
fired based on their sexual orientation.
“So only six in 10 lesbians, gays and bisexuals know
there is no national law protecting them from
employment discrimination,” he said. “Considering
this has been the top priority for advocates in
Washington for the past 20 years, that is pretty
astounding and disappointing.”
Marty Rouse, national field director for Human Rights
Campaign, said he was “discouraged” by the finding
and that it demonstrated the need for further
education.
The findings come despite information that shows
gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans are more
politically active than the general population.
