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| Exit polls support the theory that the issue of gay marriage won George
W. Bush more votes without costing the president any gay votes. Gay Bush
voters say they focused on other important issues than marriage. (File photo by
AP)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LOU CHIBBARO JR. COMMENTS
 
Michael Winn, 62, a health care industry professional who lives in Deerfield Beach,
Fla., said he voted for George W. Bush for president this year after having voted
for Al Gore four years ago.
Winn is a gay man and a lifelong Democrat, although he admits he “strayed”
from his party in the 1980s when he voted for Ronald Reagan.
“When 9/11 happened, I thought President Bush was so wonderful because
he brought the country together,” he said. “He began the war on
terrorism, which I strongly support.”
Winn makes clear that he disagrees with the president on some issues, such
as a constitutional ban on gay marriage and stem cell research.
“But I feel the issue of national security is more important than the
issue of gay marriage and the other issues I don’t agree with him on,”
he said.
Winn is among those who put a face on the 23 percent of gay voters that a national
exit poll claimed voted for Bush, breaking from the 77 percent of their gay
brothers and sisters who reported voting for Democrat John Kerry.
The 23 percent of gay voters who backed the president translate into more than
one million gay male, lesbian, or bisexual voters, according to the exit poll,
a figure that stunned and baffled many gay activists.
The percentage was nearly identical to the level of gay support for Bush four
years ago, and for Republican nominee Bob Dole in 1996.
But to voters like Winn and James Warren, 41, a resident of nearby Oakland Park,
Fla., there should be no surprise over why they chose Bush over Kerry in the
key battleground state of Florida.
“John Kerry is an admirable man,” said Warren, an airplane mechanic
who is retired on a disability. “Right now, the No. 1 issue is terrorism,”
he said. “I watched John Kerry waffle on that issue. I’m not comfortable
with that.”
The two men said that while they don’t share Bush’s support for
a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, they also don’t agree
with efforts by gay activists to push the issue at this time.
“I look at gay marriage as a way for attorneys to make money,”
Warren said. “That’s why this has gotten into the media.”
“I don’t agree with gay marriage,” Winn said. “I think
a marriage should be between a man and a woman. I do feel civil unions should
be approved.”
Chris Taylor, 42, a Wall Street financial analyst who lives in New York’s
Greenwich Village, said he voted for Bush because he agreed far more with his
positions on the issues than Kerry’s positions.
“Gay issues are only 20 percent of what I base my vote on,” he
said. “I base my vote mostly on national defense and economic issues,
like taxes and free trade.”
Added Taylor, who moved to New York three years ago from Atlanta, “Basically,
I’m a small government kind of guy. The only area I want government to
be strong is national defense and law enforcement.”
Unlike Winn and Warren, Taylor said he supports the goal of obtaining legalized
same-sex marriage but he believes gay rights leaders made a mistake by pressing
forward too soon.
“I think the gay movement has been incredibly irresponsible in the way
they handled the gay marriage issue,” he said. “The gay movement
rushed into this without thinking it through. They went full steam ahead, and
we got shot down.”
Taylor acknowledges that White House political adviser Karl Rove “capitalized”
on the gay marriage issue to help defeat Kerry. Media reports indicate that
Rove encouraged conservatives to place gay marriage bans on the ballot in battleground
states, encouraging a stronger evangelical voter turnout.
But Taylor’s support for Bush on a wide range of non-gay issues justified
his decision to vote for a president who may have resorted to gay baiting to
win election to a second term, Taylor said.
“You never get perfection,” he said. “You have to go with
the candidate who is the least bad.”
Some gay Bush supporters have said their backing of the president has miffed
some of their friends and acquaintances, who criticize them for going against
the best interests of fellow gays. Taylor said he has encountered such sentiments
in a dramatic way in his Greenwich Village neighborhood, an historic hotbed
of liberalism.
“I went ...
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