Public Support of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Supreme Court Nominees

• In Event: Emerging Scholars Lightning Round: Graduate Student Research: Contemporary Issues in US Politics: Identities, Technology, and Economic Policy

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increase in political attention to the demographic characteristics of judicial nominees in the United States and how they can affect public opinion from judicial scholars. Among the various demographics, particular emphasis has been placed on race and the conventional binary gender categories (male and female), with comparatively less attention dedicated to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. This paper uses a conjoint experiment to evaluate the relationship between public support and lesbian, gay, and bisexual Supreme Court nominees. The results show that people are less likely to support bisexual and gay nominees than straight ones. It also shows that when someone is gay (bisexual), they are more likely to support a nominee who is gay (bisexual) as well. These results have implications for shared descriptive representation and the support of judicial nominees.

Author

• Maya Fitch, University of Houston