Earlier this week we asked Gay Politics Report readers what they thought the effect of the November elections would be on the makeup of Congress.  It turns out our readers are pretty optimistic about the Democrats’ ability to hold on to power in Washington.

More than half of the 723 respondents think the Democrats will keep both the House and the Senate, an outcome some national pollsters say is becoming less likely every day.

About a quarter expect Republicans to take over the House, but fall short of taking power in the Senate.

About 10% say the GOP will win full control of Congress, while another 10% say the Democrats will keep the House and lose the Senate.

Vote and get the latest results here.  Sign up for your free subscription to Gay Politics Report here.

Note:  This poll is not scientific and reflects the opinions of only those who have chosen to participate.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate, today told CNN’s Ed Henry that he would support a federal constitutional amendment prohibiting individual states from allowing same-sex couples to marry.

“When it comes to marriage, I think it is a sacred institution, I believe it is between a man and a woman,” Crist said, “but partners living together, you know, I don’t have a problem with it.”

“It’s just how I feel,” Crist added.

Anti-gay activists have repeatedly pushed Congress to consider a Federal Marriage Amendment, but it has never gathered enough support to pass.  The amendment was a central issue in the 2004 presidential election.

Currently five states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex couples to legally wed.  A federal constitutional amendment would end marriage equality in those jurisdictions.

UPDATE:  Well that was quick.  Hours after he said he still supported a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality for same-sex couples, Crist has retreated to a slightly more moderate position.  He issued the following clarification tonight:

“In an interview that aired today, I was not discussing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage, which I do not support, but rather reaffirming my position regarding Florida’s constitutional ban that I articulated while running for Governor. In fact, the interviewer’s question reflected just that. I am fully supportive of civil unions and will continue to be as a United States Senator, but believe marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman.”

Earlier this week Gay Politics Report asked more than 20,000 readers whether the lack of discussion about LGBT issues such as marriage equality this political season is a good thing or a bad thing.  Our readers were divided.

Nearly half said it was a good thing.  They’re either tired of feeling like a political punching bag or maybe they really want candidates to focus on bread and butter issues like job creation and the economy.

About 41 percent believe it’s a bad thing.  They’d like to know where candidates stand on these issues.  Voting for a candidate who shares your values on taxes and the stimulus doesn’t necessarily mean he or she will support LGBT equality, and you won’t find out unless someone asks the right questions.

Ten percent of respondents weren’t sure.

Results are here.

By Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund

I’m sometimes asked why the Victory Fund endorses openly LGBT candidates for city councils, county commissions or state legislatures in places far away from our Washington, D.C., offices.  With most of the LGBT movement focused on enacting federal legislation, why spend the time and energy on local races?

It’s a valid question, and the truth is there are plenty of reasons to pay attention to candidates who are just getting their start in politics.  This year I have two very good answers.

David Cicilline and Steve Pougnet.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline is poised to become the next Member of Congress representing Rhode Island.  He’s leading his opponents in the all-but-determinative Democratic primary, and David is well-positioned to become the country’s next openly gay U.S. Representative.

But David’s path to this exciting moment didn’t begin when he announced his intention to run for Congress earlier this year.  It began 16 years ago when he won his first race for the State House.  After four terms as a state legislator, during which time he came out as a gay man, the Victory Fund supported his groundbreaking run for mayor in 2002 and his reelection bid in 2006.

After an impressive career like that, David was prepared to seize on a rare opportunity to run for an open seat in Congress.  He’d built a record of accomplishment, gained deep experience, and amassed a strong network of supporters who are now working to  help him win.

Mayor Steve Pougnet took a similar route, first winning a seat on the Palm Springs City Council and then winning his race for mayor in 2007 with the support of the Victory Fund.  Now Steve has become the strongest challenger ever faced by the incumbent, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, and the national Democratic Party is focused on this race as a potential pick-up.

Both David and Steve earned the respect of their communities because they first demonstrated a real commitment to solving local problems through governing.  They’ve walked the neighborhoods and knocked on doors, listened to their neighbors and asked for their votes—first as local candidates, and now as contenders for seats in Congress.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin served as a local and state elected official for 12 years before she won her seat in U.S. House, and Rep. Barney Frank was a Massachusetts State Representative for 8 years before he won his first congressional election.

Building our bench of qualified, experienced candidates not only produces important local and state victories for LGBT equality, it ensures that one day soon our voices will be a lot less rare at the highest levels of government.  Today’s city council and state legislative candidates are tomorrow’s members of Congress, and we need a lot more members of the LGBT community in Congress.

The Victory Fund has endorsed 157 openly LGBT candidates for public office in 2010, with six running for seats in the U.S. House.  Fighting to help elect people like David Cicilline and Steve Pougnet is incredibly important this year, and the same is true for those who will follow in their footsteps.

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe issued the following statement tonight regarding an announcement by the former chair of the Republican National Committee,  Ken Mehlman, that he is gay:

“Coming out is a personal decision, and it can have a profound impact on families, friends, colleagues and constituents.  We hope the fact that Ken Mehlman has reached this level of honesty will now encourage other political leaders to reject divisive anti-gay campaign tactics which, as Mr. Mehlman now admits, are purely cynical attempts to manipulate the American public,” Wolfe said.  ”We look forward to the day when all political leaders, regardless of party, are able to be honest about themselves and their families, and still rise to positions where they can lead by example.”

Mehlman led the GOP during administration of President George W. Bush when, in the 2004 and 2006 national elections, party officials deliberately used anti-gay political messaging to drive social conservatives to the polls, according to Marc Ambinder, who broke the news tonight:

Mehlman said at the time that he could not, as an individual Republican, go against the party consensus. He was aware that Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief strategic adviser, had been working with Republicans to make sure that anti-gay initiatives and referenda would appear on November ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help Republicans.

Mehlman acknowledges that if he had publicly declared his sexuality sooner, he might have played a role in keeping the party from pushing an anti-gay agenda.

The Arizona state legislature is likely to keep its five-member caucus of openly LGBT lawmakers after important primary elections Tuesday night.

Jack Jackson, Jr., a member of the Navajo Nation, was the top vote-getter in a three-way race for a seat in the Arizona Senate.  He would join State Sen. Paula Aboud, an out lesbian, Sen. Robert Meza, who is openly gay, and primary winner Kyrsten Sinema, an openly bisexual member of the State House who is likely to move up to the Senate.

In 2005, Jackson, a former member of the State House, was appointed by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the Executive Director of the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs.  In April 2000, he was appointed by Secretary Donna Shalala to serve on President Clinton’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.   Today Jackson serves on the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise Board and the Obama Administration has selected him to once again serve on the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

In other primary races Tuesday, Steve Howard, an openly gay man, won the Democratic nomination to become Vermont’s next lieutenant governor.

Elsewhere, out candidates faced tough losses in some tough states.  In Florida, which has never elected an openly LGBT candidate to the state legislature, Justin Flippen came up short in his bid to unseat the incumbent District 92 State House member.  Also in Florida in the race to fill Rep. Kendrick Meek’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Scott Galvin was unable to overcome a significant fundraising disadvantage in his Democratic primary.

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said today that because marines are “very religious,” moral concerns will cause them to not want to room with openly gay troops after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  Conway’s comments were reported by NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski.

Conway said the Marine Corps will consider separate living facilities for gay and straight troops, something a Pentagon spokesman flatly rejected earlier this year.

Still, Conway added that if the military ban ends, the Corps will implement it and move on.  ”We cannot be seen as dragging our feet. We’ve got two wars to fight,” Conway said.

Nearly 60 percent of registered voters in Rhode Island now say same-sex couples should be able to legally marry, a ten percentage point jump in just the last two years, according to a report on a new poll in the Providence Journal.

Even more encouraging for gay couples, when pollsters clarified the distinction between civil marriages and religious ceremonies, support for legal marriage grew to 66 percent.

“It shows, for the first time, a convincing majority of Rhode Island voters supporting equality,” said David Walker, vice president of Greenberg Quinlan and Rosner Research, a Democratic polling firm based in Washington, D.C., that conducted the poll in July.

“Marriage equality is inevitable,” Walker said. “The question is not whether, but when.”

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., last night again refused to say whether she supported the landmark decision in the Proposition 8 federal case, instead repeating that she believes the issue is best left to states to decide.

“Bono Mack declined, as she has in the past, to offer her opinion on the controversial issue,” the Desert Sun reported.

In their first and only debate, Bono Mack and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet took the expected jabs at each other’s record and vowed that job creation would be their top priority in Congress.

Pougnet, who is openly gay, is the strongest challenger Bono Mack has faced in years.  Last night was the first time she has debated a general election opponent since 2002.

This afternoon the White House announced President Barack Obama has made recess appointments of four nominees whose confirmations were being held up in the Senate.  Among them is Richard Sorian, an openly gay man who will be the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“At a time when our nation faces so many pressing challenges, I urge members of the Senate to stop playing politics with our highly qualified nominees, and fulfill their responsibilities of advice and consent,” President Obama said in a release this afternoon. “Until they do, I reserve the right to act within my authority to do what is best for the American people.”

Obama has appointed hundreds of openly LGBT staff to his administration, with many recommended by the Presidential Appointments Project, the LGBT community’s effort to increase the number of out presidential appointees.

From the White House announcement:

Richard Sorian, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services

Richard Sorian is currently a Senior Adviser to the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services.  Previously, he was Vice President for Public Policy and External Relations for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), where he directed the organization’s media relations, policy development and advocacy, and relations with employers, consumers, and other key stakeholders. Before working for NCQA, Sorian was Director of Public Affairs for the Center for Studying Health System Change and a Project Director at the Georgetown University Institute for Health Care Research and Policy. From 1993 to 1998, Sorian was a Senior Advisor for Health Policy Communications in the Office of Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala. In that capacity, Sorian focused on health care reform, HIV/AIDS policy, and health care quality improvement. From1997 to 1998, he served as Deputy Director of the President’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, where he directed work on the Patient’s Bill of Rights. From 1980 to 1993, Sorian was an award-winning journalist covering U.S. health care policy development. He was editor of Medicine & Health and the Journal of American Health Policy. He is also the author of three books: The Bitter Pill: Tough Choice in America’s Health Policy (1989); A New Deal for American Health Care (1993); and The Health Care 500 (1988). He is a graduate of George Washington University and, in 1989, was awarded a fellowship for Advanced Studies in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.