Poll: 68% Of Americans Favor Businesses That Show Support For LGBTQ Equality

Last June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of anti-LGBTQ baker, Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop, many saw the decision as a symbolic setback for the LGBTQ community.

But a new Harris Poll shows a majority of Americans feels the federal government and private sector should do more to protect LGBTQ rights.

The survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults indicates 70% support a federal law protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and credit.

Respondents overwhelmingly said businesses should not discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation (81%) or their gender identity (80%).

In fact, 75% of Americans feel that when a business opens it’s doors to the public, everyone should be served equally.

The poll also showed 68% of Americans say they would favor, and be more likely to shop at, businesses that openly support LGBTQ equality.

But its not all sunny news, as 20% of of those polled believe businesses should be able to deny services based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or disability.

And 25% say business owners should be allowed to refuse services to certain customers if that would be in opposition to their religious beliefs.

Last November, a campaign known as Open To All was launched in order to boost awareness of discriminatory business practices.

Businesses who support the campaign make public their pledge to treat everyone fairly and can display signs in their windows with the hashtag #OpenToAll.

Donald Trump's Disapproval Ratings Hit New High

Donald Trump

While Donald Trump loves breaking records, this is one he may not be boasting about.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Trump's disapproval rating has hit a new high of 60%.

Only 36% of respondents approve of the job Trump is doing as president.

Slightly more Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy: 47% disapprove, 45% approve.

Although Trump promised to 'drain the swamp,' 45% of Americans feel corruption in DC has increased; only 13% feel corruption has decreased; 39% believe its remained the same.

A solid majority (63%) support the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller; only 29% oppose.

More than half (53%) believe Trump somehow participated in obstructing Mueller's investigation; 35% don't believe he did.

When it comes to former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, a decisive 67% believe the charges and guilty verdicts were justified; only 17% disagree.

And similar numbers come into play when asked about a possible pardon for Manfort - 66% oppose a pardon for the convicted felon, 18% support a pardon.

And, almost half of Americans (49%) feel Congress should begin impeachment proceedings; 46% oppose the idea.

So. Much. Winning.

Read the full results of the poll at this link.

Poll Of 97,000 Americans Shows Trump Approval Drops To Record Low

Donald Trump may have thought his "yuuuuge tax cuts" legislation would make it popular, but he's actually dropped in terms of job approval according to Morning Consult to the lowest point of his presidency.

The latest Morning Consult poll, surveying over 97,000 Americans across all 50 states, puts his approval at just 41%.

From Morning Consult:

The new data — compiled from surveys conducted March 1 to March 31 among 97,693 registered voters in every state and Washington, D.C. — shows 41 percent of registered voters approving and 54 percent disapproving of Trump’s job performance, surpassing previous monthly lows from October and November, when 42 percent approved and 53 percent took the opposing view.

This marks a 4-point net decline from February (43% approval, 52% disapproval), and surpasses his previous monthly lows from October and November when 42% approved and 53% disapproved.

The changes were driven mainly by a loss of enthusiasm among the president’s independent and Republican supporters: Strong approval for Trump was down 2 points among GOP voters, to 45 percent, and 1 point among independents, to 13 percent.

Trump remains underwater in crucial battleground states: President Trump also saw his approval marks decline in key Senate battleground states in March. Here's where Trump stands in key battleground states:

• Ohio: (46% approve, 50% disapprove) (-5 percentage point change since February)
• Montana: (50% approve, 46% disapprove) (-5 net change)
• Arizona: (48% approve, 49% disapprove) (-4 net change)

Click here for more info including an interactive map of the U.S. where you can see Trump's approval changes over time since his inauguration.

CNN Poll: Trump's Approval Rating Hits Historical Low

According to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, only 38% of those polled approve of Donald Trump's handling of the presidency, while 56% say they disapprove.

Only one other president at the six-month mark of their presidency has notched an approval rating below 50% at this point since modern polling began: Bill Clinton. At this point in 1993, Clinton had an approval rating of 44%, still 8 points better than the Trumpster.

The high 30s is where Trump seems to average when it comes to approval numbers.

But there is a troubling issue in this survey's results for Trump. Among Republicans, strong approval has dropped by double digits - from 73% in February to 59% now. That signifies a drop of 14 points among his base.

More from the poll:

• Only 24% of Americans trust everything that comes out of the White House; 30% say they trust "nothing at all" from the Trump White House

• Just 43% believe Trump can "bring the kind of change the country needs," down from 48% in April

• Only 39% feel Trump "can manage the government effectively," down from 44% in April

• Just 36% say the Trump presidency is a success thus far versus 59% who say Trump is failing. At this point in their respective presidencies, both Obama and George W. Bush were considered "successful" by most Americans (51% for Obama; 56% for Bush)

• 62% say Trump's actions and statements since taking office have made them less confident in him

• 59% say Trump isn't paying enough attention to the country's most critical issues

New Poll Shows Hillary Clinton In Double-Digit Lead Over Donald Trump

In a head-to-head general election matchup, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 51% - 39% among registered voters nationwide, according to the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll:

This is Clinton’s largest lead in Post/ABC polling since last fall, and a dramatic reversal from last month’s survey, which found the race nearly even, with Trump at 46 percent and Clinton at 44 percent.

The same poll showed President Obama’s approval rating at 56% — its highest level in Washington Post polling since May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Obama is more popular now than Republicans George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush in the waning months of their presidencies.

Additionally, the June 20-24 Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed Clinton in double-digits over Trump 46.6% - 33.3%.

Poll: Hillary Clinton Leads Donald Trump In Double Digits

From Reuters:

Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 11 points in the U.S. presidential race, showing little change after she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee this week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.

The online poll, conducted from Monday to Friday, shows 46 percent of likely voters support Clinton while 34.8 percent back Trump. Another 19.2 percent support neither candidate. Their parties hold conventions in July ahead of a Nov. 8 election.

HIllary Clinton Wins "Scruff" Poll

Popular dating app, Scruff, held it's own completely unscientific survey to see which Democratic candidate it's users support.

From NBC:

According to Scruff, the popular dating app for gay and bisexual men, nearly 60 percent of the 1,011 "likely voters" who responded to the survey are throwing their support behind Clinton, compared with 34 percent who support Sanders.

One sub-group Sanders did do particularly well with in the survey was younger gay and bisexual men. Seventy-six percent of 18-24 year olds surveyed said they support the Vermont senator.

Clinton, however, captured more of the "leather," "daddy" and "bear" support.

Hillary Clinton Leads By 18 Points In New USA Today/Suffolk University Poll

In the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still leads Sen. Bernie Sanders by 18 points.

Clinton garners 43% of support from likely voters, while Sanders gets 23% and an announced Vice-President Biden gets 20%.

The poll also shows that Democratic voter by a margin of 54%-34% feel the announced six Democratic debates are sufficient, and don't feel the need for more. Some candidates have argued that the six is too limiting.

I personally think six is plenty. If the candidates can't communicate their positions in about 12 hours of TV time, then they need to think more about their message.

Half Of Britain's Young Adults Say They Aren't "100% Heterosexual"

A new survey by YouGov reveals nearly half of Britain’s 18-24 year-olds say they don’t identify as 100% heterosexual.

From YouGov:

Asked to plot themselves on a ‘sexuality scale’, 23% of British people choose something other than 100% heterosexual – and the figure rises to 49% among 18-24 year olds Invented by Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s, the Kinsey scale plots individuals on a range of sexual dispositions from exclusively heterosexual at 0 through to exclusively homosexual at 6.

Where the original study had a large number of methods for placing people, YouGov simply asked people to place themselves on the sexuality scale.

Taken as a whole, 72% of the British public place themselves at the completely heterosexual end of the scale, while 4% put themselves at the completely homosexual end and 19% say they are somewhere in between – classed as bisexual in varying degrees by Kinsey.

Of the people that do place themselves in this 1-5 area, the majority incline away from homosexuality – 15% are closer to the heterosexual end, 2% directly in the middle and 2% are closer to the homosexual end.

With each generation, people see their sexuality as less fixed in stone. The results for 18-24 year-olds are particularly striking, as 43% place themselves in the non-binary area between 1 and 5 and 52% place themselves at one end or the other. Of these, only 46% say they are completely heterosexual and 6% as completely homosexual.

Poll: Trump Tops GOP Hopefuls But Fares Worst Against Hillary Clinton

There's good and bad news for Donald Trump in the latest USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll.

While Trump has surged 6 points since the June poll, putting him on top of the current field of GOP presidential hopefuls, the survey also shows that he is the weakest competitor in regard to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

In a hypothetical matchup, Trump loses to Clinton by 17 points (51%-34%), while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush trails by only four points nationwide, 46%-42%.

The other five top GOP contenders also do better than Trump with Sen. Marco Rubio trailing Clinton by 6 points; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by 8 points; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by 9 points; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul by 10 points; and neurosurgeon Ben Carson by 13 points.

Poll results also show Trump has a huge deficit in term of unfavorable/favorable impression - 61% of those surveyed have an unfavorable impression of him, 23% hold a favorable one. That means a net-negative rating of 38 points. Jeb Bush's favorable-unfavorable rating is 35%-42%.

USA TODAY's Susan Page also notes that while many of the other Republicans in the race are still introducing themselves to the American people, Trump's name recognition is already high. This indicates that he may not have much more room to rise in the polls.

CNN/ORC Poll: Jeb Bush With Early Lead For 2016 GOP Nomination

Results of the latest CNN/ORC poll gives Jeb Bush a slight lead among possible Republicans running for the 2016 presidential nod notching 17% support followed in the number two spot by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 12% and Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio in 3rd and 4th respectively with 115.

Click pic to enlarge

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continues to have a double digit lead over her closest competition, Vice-President Joe Biden. At 69% Hillary has seen a 7 point jump since she announced her run for the Dem nomination:

Click pic to enlarge

In a hypothetical matchup, Sen. Marco Rubio fares best against Clinton losing to the former Secretary of State by 14 points, 55% to 41%.

Bush trails Clinton by 17 points, 56% to 39%.

Christie and Paul fall 19 points behind Clinton, each putting up 39% to Clinton's 58%.

Poll: President Obama Back To 50% Approval Rating

In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, President Obama has crossed the threshold to 50% approval for the first time since Spring of 2013.


Most probably due to the improving economy, the poll shows Obama with 50% approval ratings in how he's handling his job versus 44% disapproval.

He also edges out the Republicans by four points (40%-36%) on who is more trusted to cope with the nation's problems.

Also of note: even with both chambers of Congress in Republican control (the largest GOP majority in the House in 80 years), a plurality of 44% over 33% believe the new Congress will do about the same job as the last Congress.

Read more of the results here.

New poll shows solid majority of Americans support same-sex marriage

A new McClatchy-Marist Poll shows opinions towards the LGBT community continue to change for the better at an exponential rate.

From the new poll:

• Adults as a whole support marriage equality 54-38 percent

• Young adults 18-29 favor same-sex marriage by 75-18 percent

• Adults 30-44 favor same-sex marriage 55-38 percent

• Adults 45-59 favor same-sex marriage 49-40

• 71 percent of American adults say they know someone who’s gay.  In 1999, a Pew poll showed that 60 percent of Americans said they didn’t know anyone who was gay.

• 48 percent said they wouldn’t be upset if one of their children told them they were gay.

I wonder what Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage will think of these results?

Happy Friday, Brian!

Poll: Very strong support for marriage equality for those under 50

A new Politico poll conducted in the most competitive House and Senate districts shows strong support for marriage equality among those under 50.

Of those people between the ages of 18-34, support stands at a rocking 61 percent.

Slightly more than half of those between ages 35 and 49 support gay marriage.

The figure drops to 48 percent among those aged 50-64. Overall, 52 percent of those surveyed oppose gay marriage.

It should be noted that the poll consisted of slightly more self-identified Republicans (39%) than Democrats (34%), and 65% of those polled considered themselves "very religious."


Read more at Politico.

Obamacare site gets record traffic as public support moves into positive territory

Record traffic continues before tonight's deadline. 1.6M+ visits (2pm) to http://t.co/oZaZC4p00C and 840k+ calls (4pm). #GetCoveredNow
— HealthCare.gov (@HealthCareGov) March 31, 2014

The federal Obamacare website is experiencing "record volume" Monday, the deadline for enrolling in coverage, the Obama administration said.

At the same time, news comes that the Affordable Healthcare Act has more support than naysayers for the first time.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found 49 percent of Americans support the law and 48 percent oppose it.

Support surged among Democrats, jumping from 65 percent in January to 76 percent today.

Even among conservatives, support doubled to 36 percent of them backing it now compared to 17 percent in November. Still negative numbers, but a strong sign of improvement.

Also, on the constantly voted upon issue of repealing the law, Americans were also narrowly split: 49 percent of all respondents oppose those efforts, and 47 percent support them.  Among registered voters the split was a slightly wider 50 percent oppose versus 46 percent support.

New poll: Record high 59% of Americans support marriage equality

According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, a record high of 59% of Americans support marriage equality:

Half of all Americans believe that gay men and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll in which a large majority also said businesses should not be able to deny serving gays for religious reasons.

Fifty percent say the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry, while 41 percent say it does not.

Beyond the constitutional questions, a record-high 59 percent say they support same-sex marriage, while 34 percent are opposed, the widest margin tracked in Post-ABC polling.

Bolding is mine.

In addition, 65 percent of Americans across the country think businesses should not be able to refuse service to gay people even if it violates their religious beliefs.

Check out the graphic below for more results from the poll.

Poll: Washington Post shows Hillary clear front runner for 2016

According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner for president in 2016.

In a Democratic primary, the poll shows Democratic voters prefer Clinton over Vice-President Joe Biden by 61 points.

On the Republican side of things, former vice-presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan barely leads a tightly ranked group of possible GOP nominees at 20%, a 2 point lead over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

In a hypothetical general election, the poll indicates Hillary Clinton would beat NJ Gov. Chris Christie 53% - 41%.

(source)

New poll: Americans oppose GOP-led governent shutdown 72% -22%

The Republican strategy of shutting down the federal government in order to block health care reform’s implementation is not paying off for the GOP-led House: Americans oppose the plan by an overwhelming 72 to 22 percent.

According to a new poll by Quinnipiac poll, here is how Americans see the federal government shutdown:

• Republicans narrowly support the shutdown 49 to 44 percent
• Democrats oppose the shutdown 90 to 6 percent
• Independents oppose it 74 to 19 percent (that's the number that really counts come next fall)

“Americans are certainly not in love with Obamacare, but they reject decisively the claim by congressional Republicans that it is so bad that it’s worth closing down the government to stop it,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a release.

If gets even worse for Republicans on "job approval."

The poll finds President Obama’s approval rating at 45 percent, with 49 percent disapproving. Not the greatest number, BUT the Republicans find only 17 percent approve of the job they are doing.  74 percent disapprove.

The GOP Tea Party in free fall.

Poll: 55% of Virginians support marriage equality

Just seven years after Virginia passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex marriage in the state, polls show public opinion on the issue following national trends:

A new poll released by the Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBT advocacy group, found 55 percent of Virginians polled supported same sex marriage. Researchers also found 71 percent of respondents under the age of 30 support gay marriage.

The bipartisan poll was done by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Target Point Consulting from June 26-30, 2013.

Support for same-sex marriage varied in different parts of Virginia, the poll found.

68 percent in Northern Virginia support same-sex marriage
53 percent in Central Virginia support same-sex marriage
51 percent in Eastern Virginia support same-sex marriage

“There is no question we’re making movement when it comes to fairness and equality across the country,” Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said.

(via WTVR)

ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Americans support SCOTUS decisions on same-sex marriage

ABC News/Washington Post recently polled 1,005 people over June 26-30 regarding recent US Supreme Court rulings on marriage equality.

56% vs. 41% support giving married gay couples Federal benefits

51% vs. 45% support the decision regarding Prop 8 in California

And while we're on "rights" - Americans oppose the ruling that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act 51% vs 33%

See the full results of the poll here.