(02/21/09) - Country Not Ready for a Gay President, Say French
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The vast majority of people in France say they are willing to vote for a homosexual candidate in a presidential election but think others would not, according to a poll by CSA released by VSD. 75 per cent of respondents would support a gay candidate.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The vast majority of people in France say they are willing to vote for a homosexual candidate in a presidential election but think others would not, according to a poll by CSA released by VSD. 75 per cent of respondents would support a gay candidate.
However, only 27 per cent of respondents think most people in France would vote for a homosexual presidential candidate.
Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë, a member of the Socialist Party (PS) who is widely seen as a future presidential contender, has openly talked about his homosexuality since before officially taking office in 2001.
On Jan. 23, Roger Karoutchi, a conservative junior minister for parliamentary relations and member of the governing centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), revealed in an interview that French president Nicolas Sarkozy had invited him and his male partner to have dinner at the president’s place. Karoutchi declared: "We are lucky to have modern leaders who participate in the evolution of society. I have a partner and I am happy with him. I see no reason why I should hide that."
Polling Data
Would you be willing to vote for a homosexual candidate in a presidential election?
|
Yes
|
75%
|
|
No
|
22%
|
|
Not sure
|
3%
|
And do you think most people in France would be willing to vote for a homosexual candidate in a presidential election?
|
Yes
|
27%
|
|
No
|
61%
|
|
Not sure
|
12%
|
Source: CSA / VSD
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,013 French adults, conducted on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, 2009. No margin of error was provided.