Marketing Research

I had the chance to take part in a opinion/marketing survey. The topic was about a California law teaching about LGBT people and what contributions they made in history. It was a hot button issue for many people for many reasons. The mix of 9 people, all men, from about 28 to 65 years old, was kind of fascinating.

We were put in a waiting room before the session. I noticed there was a camera on the wall and in the ceiling was a mic. I don't think most noticed there was surveillance. The 28 year old was talking about a lot of things. Politics. He was a hard core Libertarian. Loves Ron Paul. Touted all of the talking points of that candidate. His talk made me think he didn't read any opinions that didn't agree with what he thought. When this guy said he thought 9/11 was an inside job I almost engaged him and told him he was an idiot. Thought all drugs should be legal. In the session he would go off on tangents that had nothing to do with the topic, but he loved the sound of his own voice.

There was a guy who was a driver. Blue collar type, big hands. He was originally somewhat for the topic, but all the things he said were antithetical to that position. He sounded like he had deep seated beliefs. He didn't express himself well when talking. Hated Obama. Hated. Him and the 28 year old he was talking to think there's going to be an armed revolution. The 28 year old said he won't miss.

There was a guy next to me was more concerned about the sex part of the topic than the topic of teaching about what LGBT people had contributed. Schools are not going to be teaching sex. They would be teaching that people other than straight white guys contributed to the nation. It took a law to get blacks included in text books in the 60's because in the past most text books have been written by old white guys. He was also of the opinion that people who were gay made a choice to be gay. When a friend of mine came out (I had no idea) I asked him when he knew he was gay. He said he knew at around 4 years old. Not really a choice.

Now my take on the subject was more along the lines of, "I don't care who they sleep with." Because if you are worthy to be in a textbook your sex life shouldn't matter. If you are talking history that involves the Stonewall Riots or some such, then it makes sense to talk about orientation. But to single out someone and tag them with "straight, gay, lesbian..." keeps them separate.

Also the parents should have some chance to opt out if they are super religious evangelicals. They want to protect their kids from what they think is wrong in the world. They won't be able to protect them forever, and may just install prejudices in them.

An interesting evening.