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Obtained About HRC's ENDA Poll

As The Advocate reported earlier this week, a strong majority of gays and lesbians supported passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act even though it did not include protections for transgender people, according to a poll commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign. Since then, The Advocate has obtained the full results of the poll questions about ENDA, which passed the House of Representatives Wednesday in a 235-184 vote. The poll, a random survey of 514 LGBT Americans conducted by Knowledge Networks Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., asked participants two questions concerning ENDA. The first asked which of the following three statements was closest to reflecting their views: A. National gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations should oppose this proposal because it excludes transgender people.

B. National gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations should support this proposal because it helps gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers and is a step toward transgender employment rights.

C. National gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations should adopt a neutral stance for this proposal because while it helps gay, lesbians, and bisexual workers, it also excludes transgender people. Of those surveyed, 67.7% agreed with statement B, while 15.8% agreed with statement A, 12.8% agreed with statement C, and 3.6% did not answer. The second question asked people the following: "This proposal would make it illegal to fire gay, lesbian, or bisexual workers because of their sexual orientation. This proposal does NOT include people who are transgender. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?" In response, 59.1% said they favored the proposal and felt strongly about it, 15.4% said they favored it but did not feel strongly about it, 15.1% opposed it and felt strongly about it, 8.8% opposed it but did not feel strongly about it, and 1.6% did not answer.

Of the 514 people the poll surveyed, 246 respondents identified as male, 262 identified as female, five identified as female-to-male transgender, and one person identified as male-to-female transgender. The poll was conducted October 2-5. The margin of error was +/- 4.3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. More than 300 LGBT organizations nationwide opposed ENDA -- which will next be taken up in the U.S. Senate -- because it did not contain protections for transgender people. (The Advocate)