Unscientific Survey Results: GLBT Community Active in TN Politics

Recently about 475 friends of TEP (people who are on one of our lists) filled out a 10-question survey. Note: Some people seem to have answered twice in some questions. Here are a few of the questions with answers and my thoughts:

Voting
Q: Are you registered to vote in Tennessee?
A: 90.7% or 430 respondents said YES; 9.5% or 45 respondents said NO.

A few are still registered to vote where they lived previously or they are college students, but it's a high percentage of members of our community and allies who registered to vote here in Tennessee.

Campaigns
Q: Have you ever given money to a political campaign?
A: 63.7% or 302 said YES; 36.5% or 173 said NO.
Q: Have you ever volunteered in a political campaign?
A: 46.2% or 219 said YES; 54.2% or 257 said NO.

This is good news. Not only is the GLBT community registered to vote, but the majority are interested in supporting candidates financially and about half are willing to volunteer. Further questions on the size of contributions and the amount and kind of volunteering would be interesting. But it all points to the fact that our community understands the importance of electing supportive candidates.

Lobbying
Q: Have you ever emailed, called, or visited a member of the Tennessee General Assembly about a piece of legislation or an issue?
A: 69.2% or 328 said YES; 31.0% or 147 said NO.
Q: With adequate lobbying and citizen support, do you think your city or county government would be ready for non-discrimination legislation (or further non-discrimination legislation) in the next 2 years?
A: 72.8% or 313 said YES; 27.2% or 117 said NO.

Members of our community are clearly not afraid of or unaware of how to reach out to their elected officials. The results may also mean that we've made it easier for them to do so over the last few years. What is striking is the fact that an overwhelming majority of our community lives in a community that they believe could move forward with non-discrimination legislation in the next 2 years. That bodes well for citizen support efforts in moving legislation at the local and state level. We're ready to fight for advances.

Geographic Distribution:
Here's a sampling of where the respondents came from (cities with 5 or more)

Antioch-5
Chattanooga-7
Clarksville-8
Cordova-6
Franklin-5
Hendersonville-7
Johnson City-10
Knoxville-59
Memphis-75
Murfreesboro-25
Nashville-120
Oak Ridge-5

No surprise about the concentration in urban areas or in Middle TN. The distribution also tracks well with the locations in which we have County committees with the exception of Chattanooga. Murfreesboro's numbers are striking. A potential powerhouse for equality needs to be nurtured there.

Legislative surveys

It seems as if more legislators are conducting issue surveys, which I think is a great idea. Anything that gets more people interacting with the state legislative process is "a good thing."

You can see the results of Rep. Susan Lynn's survey so far here. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of answers in question 14 that dealt with GLBT issues. You'll also find a lot of 10th Amendment stuff, too.

Sen. Jack Johnson is also conducting a survey at his website. There isn't opportunity for open-ended feedback, but it's still worth a look.

Rep. Susan Lynn wants to hear from you

Here's the survey she's advertising on Facebook.

National Survey on Transgender Experiences of Discrimination in the U.S.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is inviting transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States to participate in an online survey. The responses will be part of an important report on transgender people’s experiences of discrimination in housing, employment, health care and education.

Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality states:

This is an absolutely critical national effort. We urge all transgender and gender non-conforming people to take the survey to help guide us in making better laws and policies that will improve the quality of life for all transgender people. We need everyone's voice in this, everyone's participation.

Encourage your transgender and gender non-conforming friends and family to participate. The Task Force has been a valuable resource for TEP. Learn more about the survey here.

Take This Survey - Please!

Community Marketing, Inc is conducting an online GLBT Consumer Index Survey. Help make sure the Nashville GLBT community is represented well in this survey. Complete the survey here!