Our latest election poll in Germany, showing the right-wing AfD leading with 28% out of 60,500 votes, sent shockwaves through the media and political landscape. Similar trends had previously been observed in Austria and France, and we believe this is a topic of relevance for many countries. We have closely followed the reactions and waited until the intensity of the German election had settled before providing more information.
No manipulation found
THE biggest concern or hope raised—even leading to conspiracy theories—was that the survey link was shared and the results were manipulated (e.g., in Telegram groups).
We share that concern and are aware of our responsibility when conducting such polls. That’s why we don’t announce them in advance and keep the time window short and our survey tool we use blocks basic multiple votes from the same device.
There are two simple reasons why we are confident that the results reflect the votes of ROMEOs and have not been manipulated:
Reason 1: ROMEOs vote too quickly
We received 28,120 votes within the first 24 hours! Over the following days, the number of votes decreased organically without any unexpected peaks. A reminder was sent on January 30.
Reason 2: Consistent Results from the Start
The results from the first day remained largely unchanged throughout the survey. The AfD’s share gradually declined over time in a natural and organic manner.
Worth Mentioning
We were contacted by Correctiv, a German fact-checking NGO, with a request to share the survey link to verify whether it had been widely shared. Since February 13, we haven’t heard back from them or seen an article published on the matter, so we assume that nothing was found.
About the Method
We received criticism for delivering non-representative results. Indeed, we send a message with the invite to all users in a specific country. This approach is known as a self-selecting sample.
In our view, the main weakness of this method is that the results are majorly influenced by where and how the invite has been circulated.
However, a representative study within a specific subpopulation, such as the rainbow electorate, is not possible, as there are no precise reference values available for its distribution within the overall voting population for understandable reasons. For this very reason, others also use the same method as we do.
Breaking Stereotypes
First, Overall, it seems that ROMEO users voted more or less similarly to the rest of the country, especially when considering that most ROMEO users are men.
The strength of the AfD appears to come mainly at the expense of the conservative CDU, which shows a significantly lower result. However, together they still achieved almost the same outcome (46%) as in the actual election (49%).
At the same time, the Greens and left-wing parties performed slightly better—likely due to their historical achievements, such as the introduction of marriage equality. However, the effect is far smaller than expected.
Second, we reject the stereotype of “old, white, gay men”—a phrase that, ironically, discriminates based on age, race, sex, and gender all at once.
In fact, if we had only counted votes from users under 40, the AfD would have reached 33%. This trend shouldn’t be surprising, as it aligns with broader studies on youth political shifts.
Third, we observed that within the first hours of voting, the AfD reached 36%! These were the users who happened to be online when we sent out the survey. Our guess? The more sexually active, the more out and about, the more alone on the streets at night.
We believe that ROMEO’s demographics—having a larger share of mature users and a strong social component—helped prevent even more shocking results.
A Message to Our Family
When following reactions across the internet, we saw often the demand that the gay, bi and lesbians should disconnect from the trans, queer, and non-binary movement.
We would like to take this opportunity to clearly state that at ROMEO all new letters in the alphabet are welcome and that you are an equal part of our community—nothing more, nothing less. We have the impression that nothing else is expected. This was also the reason we chose to stick with the traditional rainbow flag as the symbol of equality.
We are a small family anyway, and together we are stronger. We would wish for more understanding and acceptance of each other, as what unites us is our struggle in society with a sexuality that does not fall within the norm.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
ROMEO has always been a space for friendship, community, and open conversations—and naturally, politics is part of that, as reflected in the many discussion groups on our platform. For years, we have conducted these voting polls as messengers for our ROMEOs in countries where we have a strong user base.
Of course, we do not represent the entire Rainbow family—the large group of lesbians is missing. Nevertheless, we believe that our primary purpose—dating—can actually be an advantage. Sexual desire connects us across all societal bubbles.
This is precisely why we believe it is crucial to remain neutral in our polling, ensuring that our invite is accepted by everyone and the results providing the most realistic picture possible. We understand that these results may be surprising—even shocking—for many. We ask for your understanding; this is not our intention. If anything, we want to pour water on the fire—even if it causes a lot of steam at first.
However, based on discussions on social media, we have the impression that the shock was greater in the news than in the comment sections. In this context, we would like to mention an article by Jan Feddersen from QUEER NATIONS, “Queer organizations do not represent many LGBTI people!” (german only).
Regardless of the final percentages, in our view, our results are a loud cry for help. We would like to encourage queer representatives to listen with an open mind—especially to young people.
Finally, we would like to raise the questions:
Would it be so bad if we vote like everyone else?
Or wouldn’t it indicate how much equality has been achieved?
Jens Schmidt
CEO & Founder