Are Republicans Becoming GLBT Friendly?

It's a bit too early to say that, but the rank and file of the party is, like the general population of the United States, moving toward acceptance of GLBT people and their rights.

A study conducted of 2,000 self-identified Republican voters showed some interesting nubmers:

77% believed an employer should not have the right to fire an employee based solely on their sexual orientation.

49% believed gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military.

43% support either marriage equality or civil unions.

53% of respondents agree that “the Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage and should instead be spending time focusing on economic issues such as taxes and government spending.”

When asked “What issue do you think best defines the Republican Party today?” only 5% said “traditional marriage/family values.”

It appears, at least relating to GLBT issues, that the leaders of the Republican Party are starting to lose touch with their base.

Perhaps they should spend less time spewing about discrimination and more time listening to the people.

Tony Perkins from the notorious right-wing (straight) Family Research Council, had a different take. This was from one of his e-mail blasts:

Results of a new poll on the priorities of Republican voters are causing quite a commotion in today's headlines--and considering the survey's findings, it's no wonder. Funded by four of the most liberal GOP organizations, the survey is a masterpiece of political manipulation. According to the results, U.S. Republicans now support gays in the military, universal health care, special rights for homosexuals, and 60% of them would vote for a presidential candidate who disagreed with their position on abortion. Is the new message of the GOP to write off social issues altogether? An in-depth look at the polling questions suggests not. Most of the survey was crafted to produce a conditioned response. Here's one example. Participants were asked to agree or disagree with leading questions like this one: "The Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues." Fifty-three percent concurred, despite the fact that moral issues have historically been the winning issues on Election Day and the moral issue of corruption in office saddled a number of GOP candidates with defeat last November. Groups like the Republican Main Street Partnership may have succeeded in engineering some phony support for their issues, but we'll see how reliable those findings are after the ultimate polls at the ballot box.

Isn't that just typical! They use facts and figures (some of them fabricated) that serve their purpose and find some way to refute ones that don't.