Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2011

Abstract

Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) in the United States are strikingly more likely to vote for Democratic presidential candidates than are heterosexuals. LGBs are one of the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting blocs, despite the absence of one of the most important mechanisms for creating party identification: inter-generational transmission. We use the 2000 Presidential election to examine whether LGB voters overwhelmingly chose Al Gore because they viewed him as superior to George W. Bush on LGB-related policy issues or because of their greater overall liberalism and Democratic Party identification. We also examine the impact of socialization within the LGB community for generating political liberalism, Democratic Party identification, and interest in LGB policies. Using logit analysis on a 2000 Harris Interactive poll of 13,000 Americans, including 1,000 LGBs, we find that concern for LGB rights, policy liberalism, and party identification all played a role in the LGB vote. Analysis of the LGB sub-sample supports a model of political socialization within the LGB community leading to stronger interest in LGB rights, liberalism, Democratic party identification, and support for Gore.

Comments

This is the accepted version of the following article:

Gregory B. Lewis, Marc A. Rogers and Kenneth Sherrill. Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Voters in the 2000 US Presidential Election Politics & Policy Vol. 39 (2011): 655-78.

The article has been published in final form at doi: 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00315.x

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