The Advocate poll.

Q: Do you trust the Democratic leaders in Congress to take up gay rights issues?

Yes   32%
no    68%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

How readers responded to the Advocate.com poll question featured in the December 19 issue of The Advocate

* "Democrats know we have nowhere else to go. They can count on our vote without having to actually deliver."

* "They're looking toward the White House in 2008. They aren't going to touch any issues they don't have to touch. The last thing they will do is anger the 'values' voters they may be able to steal from the Republicans due to the bad Iraq policies."

* "The direction of the party is to the right. They realize that gay rights don't sell well to many Americans, and they're all about being accepted these days, so I'm not expecting much."

* "They probably won't pursue antigay legislation like the Republicans, but they have shown they will abandon gays if it is politically convenient."

* "Democrats have long been advocates for gay people, What this particular Democratic Congress will be able to accomplish remains to be seen, however."

* "I am happy about the last election but don't feel gay rights will change. They will just stop the decline since 2000."

* "I remain confident that the Democrats will minimally prevent a right-wing progression of legalized homophobia."