Election Voter Polls 2012: LGBT Americans Lean Democratic, Overwhelmingly Support Obama

The latest study released by Gallup reveals that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans are more likely to support President Barack Obama and Democrats than they are to support Mitt Romney and Republicans. According to the poll, 44 percent of LGBT identify as Democratic, 43 percent as independent and 13 percent as Republican.

Gallup's LGBT study is based on over 120,000 Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted between June 1 and September 30, 2012, it reported. The study also found that 3.4 percent of American adults interviewed identified as LGBT.

The study's political findings compare to 32 percent of non-LGBT Americans who identify as Democratic, 39 percent as independent and 30 as Republican, Gallup reported. According to the results, although LGBT primarily identify as independents, most tend to lean towards Democrats. Thus, 65 percent of LGBT Americans identify or lean Democratic, 21 percent identify or lean Republican and 13 percent identify purely independent.

According to the report, 45 percent of LGBT Americans say that they are liberal or very liberal in their political views, while 20 percent say they are conservative or very conservative in their political views. On the other hand, 23 percent of non-LGBT Americans say they are liberal and 39 percent say they are conservative. The report also found that both LGBT and non-LGBT Americans equally see themselves as moderates, 35 percent for LGBT and 38 percent of non-LGBT.

LGBT Americans that are registered voters tend to support President Obama, the study found. Seventy-one percent of registered LGBT American voters support Obama and 22 percent support his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Conversely, non-LGBT registered voters have shown a preference for Romney over Obama, 47 percent to 46 percent, from June to September. However, Gallup noted that Obama held a slight advantage over Romney (47 percent to 45 percent) among all registered voters during that time. This could signify that the Democratic-leaning vote of LGBT Americans could help Obama win the re-election, Gallup said.

LGBT Americans are also more likely to approve of President Obama's job performance, the study found. According to Gallup, 68 percent of LGBT Americans approve of Obama's job performance compared to 45 percent of non-LGBT Americans. Only 28 percent of LGBT Americans disapprove of how Obama is doing his job, compared to 51 percent of non-LGBT Americans.  

Romney's LGBT supporters share many of the same demographics of their non-LGBT counterparts, Gallup found. According to Gallup, LGBT Romney supporters "tend to be older, white, more religious and more likely to be married."

Unlike their non-LGBT American counterparts, LGBT Americans are less likely to be registered to vote for the upcoming election, the report found. Gallup found that 74 percent of LGBT individuals said they were registered or planned to register, compared to 80 percent of non-LGBT Americans. LGBT Americans are also less likely to vote, 75 percent to 81 percent, Gallup said.

Gallup stated that although LGBT Americans are not wholly supporters of Obama, "the fact that roughly seven in 10 LGBT voters can be expected to vote for Obama on Nov. 6 shows that these voters could be an important factor in helping him win re-election in a close race."