2012 brought some historic changes within the gay community. Those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) are feeling a little more like “Americans” as our God-given rights - which are guaranteed us by the U.S. Constitution – are slowly but surely given back to us.

Still – the media loves those who hate us and will print or air just about any hate-filled rhetoric that will boost their bottom line and keep the haters hating.

Christian conservatives, for more than two decades a pivotal force in American politics, are grappling with Election Day results that repudiated their influence and suggested that the cultural tide — especially on gay issues — has shifted against them.

They are reeling not only from the loss of the presidency, but from what many of them see as a rejection of their agenda. They lost fights against same-sex marriage in all four states where it was on the ballot, and saw anti-abortion-rights Senate candidates defeated and two states vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

The Republican Party has lost its heart and soul. The party of Abraham Lincoln, founded in the mid-1850s as a political movement united against slavery, has morphed in the 21st century into the party of hate and the party of no.

The party that was primarily comprised of Northerners and rejected by pro-slavery white Southerners is now dominated by white Southerners. The party that was once embraced by freed slaves is now overwhelmingly void of people of color, including African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and immigrants.

SAN DIEGO – A supermajority of readers of San Diego Gay & Lesbian News who took our poll say they are voting to re-elect President Barack Obama.

Our poll question was: Who are you voting for? Barack Obama, Mitt Romney or someone else?

The results, which are not scientific, reveal that 82% of readers prefer Obama, 14% prefer Romney and 4% prefer some other candidate.