LGBTQ Politics in Congress, 1973-2022: The Construction of Party Loyalty

• In Event: 50 Years of LGBTQ Scholarship at APSA Mini-Conference: Rainbow Elections, Rainbow Parties

Abstract

Gay rights emerged as a national political issue by the 1970s. As it did, the U.S. Congress provided a forum for competing views and policies on sexual orientation and gender identity. This paper demonstrates that, over time, gay rights shifted from a cross-cutting issue opposed by both parties into one that is mostly party-aligned and divides the two parties and their supporters. At the same time, the gay rights movement has evolved from a lesbian and gay rights movement to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement – leading to new conflicts about policy agendas and about understandings of sexual orientation and gender identity. We trace how the development of the gay rights movement into an LGBT rights movement intersects with the processes by which organized groups and politicians sorted themselves on these issues.

Authors

• Gregory Koger, University of Miami

• Andrew Thomas Proctor, University of Chicago