Could this trend be a harbinger of things to come?

Consider that last statistic for a moment: a turnout rate among gay men more than twice that for the nation’s voters as a whole.

A recent study by San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. found an eye-popping 92.5 percent of gay men report they voted in the 2004 presidential race, and almost 84 percent said they cast ballots in the 2006 midterm election. Among lesbians, the results were almost as impressive; nearly 91 percent in 2004 and 78 percent in 2006.

By comparison, the Washington-based Committee for the Study of the American Electorate puts the turnout for all Americans eligible to vote at about 61 percent in 2004 and roughly 40 percent in 2006.

Consider that last statistic for a moment: a turnout rate among gay men more than twice that for the nation’s voters as a whole.

The survey questioned more than 12,000 gay men and more than 10,000 lesbians, giving its results a minuscule error margin of plus or minus 1 percent.

What this shows is that people will vote when they feel like they have something at stake. It speaks to the central point in “Sicko,” Michael Moore’s documentary about the corruption of the American healthcare system. Moore suggests that in Europe, where universal healthcare is, well, universal, voters control the politicians. Governments there are vulnerable to the citizens’ displeasure, both at the ballot box and from civil unrest in the streets.

But in America, says Moore, the politicians control the voters — or rather corporate interests control politicians who run the government to benefit the corporations at the expense of citizens. Voting is considered a waste of time and boring, and protest is only fashionable among scruffy vegan ruffians.

In 2004, Republicans were using gay rights as a wedge issue in the states to gin up the homophobe vote in their base. Feeling under assault, gays answered with the weapon available to all: they voted.

Perhaps the good news here is that we gays are considered to be trendsetters. Who knows, maybe this voting thing could catch on.