A partisan divide over LGBT rights has emerged in the U.S. Yet unlike other issues on which the parties have traded places or polarized, most of the change on gay rights has occurred within one party, the Democrats. How did this unusual change occur? LGBT rights was originally a fringe cause, rejected by most politicians in both parties. As gay rights activists slowly became more prominent in the Democratic Party, many politicians adapted, abandoning earlier positions informed by their personal backgrounds and state or district constituencies. Meanwhile, incorporating the religious right led most Republicans to maintain the anti-LGBT rights stand that was once common to both parties, even as public opinion shifted. The result was a partisan divide in this issue area that had consequences for policy. The role of adaptation by incumbents in producing it—contrary to some prominent models—is evident in both Congressional co-sponsorship and roll-call data. The growing party divide is also evident in platforms. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of how party position change occurs.
AdamsGreg D.1997. “Abortion: Evidence of an Issue Evolution.” American Journal of Political Science41 (3).
2.
BawnKathleenCohenMartinKarolDavidMasketSethNoelHansZallerJohn. A Theory of Political Parties: Groups, Policy Demands and Nominations in American Politics. Perspectives on Politics2012; 10(3): 571–597.
3.
BaylorChristopher. 2017. First to the Party: The Group Origins of Political Transformation. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
4.
BishinBenjamin G.2009. Tyranny of the Minority: The Subconstituency Theory of Representation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
5.
BishinBenjamin G.FreebournJustinTetenPaul. The Power of Equality? Polarization and collective mis-representation on gay rights in Congress, 1989-2019. Political Research Quarterly2021; 74(4): 1009–1033.
6.
BishinBenjamin G.HayesThomasIncantalupoMatthewSmithAnthony. 2021. Elite-Led Mobilization and Gay Rights: Dispelling the Myth of Mass Opinion Backlash. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
7.
BrewerPaul R.2003. “The Shifting Foundations of Public Opinion about Gay Rights.” Journal of Politics65 (4): 1208–1220.
8.
BruceJohn M.WilcoxClyde. 1998. “Introduction.” In The Changing Politics of Gun Control, edited by BruceJohn M.WilcoxClyde. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
9.
BurnhamWalter Dean. 1970. Critical Elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics. New York: W.W. Norton.
10.
BurnsJohn W.TaylorAndrew J.. 2000. “The Mythical Causes of the Republican Supply-Side Economics Revolution.” Party Politics6 (4): 419–40.
11.
CarminesEdwardStimsonJames. 1989. Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
12.
ClendinenDudleyNagourneyAdam. 1999. Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America. New York: Simon and Schuster.
13.
D’EmilioJohn. 2000. “Organizational Tales: Interpreting the NGLTF Story.” In Creating Change: Sexuality, Public Policy and Civil Rights, edited by D’EmilioJohnTurnerWilliam B.VaidUrvashi. 469‐486. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
14.
EngelStephen. 2007. “Organizational Identity as a Constraint on Strategic Action: A Comparative Analysis of Gay and Lesbian Interest Groups.” Studies In American Political Development21: 66–91.
15.
FejesFred. 2008. Gay Rights and Moral Panic: The Origin’s of America’s Debate on Homosexuality. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
16.
FennoRichard F.Jr.1978. Home Style: House Members in their Districts. Boston: Little, Brown.
17.
FlippenJ. Brooks. Jimmy Carter, the Politics of Family, and the Rise of the Religious Right. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2011.
18.
FloresAndrew RBarclayScott. 2016. “Backlash, Consensus, Legitimacy, or Polarization: The Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Policy on Mass Attitudes.” Politcal Research Quarterly69 (1): 43–56.
19.
GlaserJames M. 1996. Race, Campaign Politics and the Realignment in the South. New Haven: Yale University Press.
20.
GarretsonJeremiah J.2018. The Path to Gay Rights: How Activism and Coming Out Changed Public Opinion. New York: New York University Press.
21.
Haider-MarkelDonald. Redistributing Values in Congress: Interest Group Influence under Sub-Optimal Conditions. Political Research Quarterly1999; 52(1): 113–144.
22.
HerreraRichard. 1995. “The Crosswinds of Change: Sources of Change in the Democratic and Republican Parties.” Political Research Quarterly48: 291–312.
23.
KarolDavid. Party Position Change in American Politics: Coalition Management. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
24.
KarolDavid. 2014. “Parties Revised and Revised: Democrats and Republicans in the “Age of Reagan’, 1980-2000.” In Guide to U.S. Political Parties, edited by HersheyMarjorie R.. Washington: CQ Press.
25.
KarolDavid. 2019. Red, Green and Blue: The Partisan Divide on Environmental Issues. New York: Cambridge University Press.
26.
KarolDavidThurstonChloe N. From Personal to Partisan: Abortion, Party, and Religion Among California State Legislators. Studies in American Political Development2020; 34(1): 91–109.
27.
KerstingJoel B.Schooling the Parties: The Effect of The Education Realignment on LGBTQ+ Party Position Taking in the US House of Representatives. Politics, Groups and Identities2021.
28.
LaymanGeoffrey C.CarseyThomas M.GreenJohn C.HerreraRichardCoopermanRosalyn. 2010. “Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics.” American Political Science Review4 (2): 324–346.
29.
LenzGabriel. 2012. Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians’ Policies and Performance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
30.
LewisGregory B.EdelsonJonathan L.. 2000. “DOMA and ENDA: Congress Votes on Gay Rights.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, edited by RimmermanCraig A.WaldKenneth D.WilcoxClyde. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
31.
LindamanKaraHaider-MarkelDonald P. Issue Evolution, Political Parties, and the Culture Wars. Political Research Quarterly2002; 55(1): 91–110.
32.
LublinDavid I.2004. The Republican South: Democratization and Partisan Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
33.
LublinDavid A.2005. “The Strengthening of Party and Decline of Religion in Explaining Congressional Voting Behavior on Gay and Lesbian Issues.” PS: Political Science and Politics38 (2): 241–245.
34.
McCartyNolan. 2019. Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.
35.
MucciaroniGary. 2008. Same Sex, Different Politics: Success or Failure in the Struggles over Gay Rights. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
36.
OldfieldDuane M.1996. The Right and the Righteous: The Christian Right Confronts the Republican Party. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
37.
PooleKeith T. 2007. “Changing Minds? Not in Congress.” Public Choice131 (3–4): 435–451.
38.
ProctorAndrew. 2022. “Coming out to Vote: The Construction of a Lesbian and Gay Electoral Constituency in the United States.” American Political Science Review116: 1–14.
39.
RapoportRonald B.StoneWalter J. A Model for Disaggregating Political Change. Political Behavior1994; 16(4): 505–532.
40.
RimmermanCraig. 2000. “Beyond Political Mainstreaming: Reflections on Lesbian and Gay Organizations and the Grassroots.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, edited by RimmermanCraig A.WaldKenneth D.WilcoxClyde. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41.
SabatierPaul A. 1988. “An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein.” Policy Sciences21: 129–168.
42.
SherrillKenneth. The Political Power of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals. PS: Political Science & Politics1996; 29(3): 469–473.
43.
ShochJames. 2001. Trading Blows: Party Competition and U.S. Trade Policy in a Globalizing Era. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
44.
StimsonJames A.2004. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
45.
SundquistJames. 1983. Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
46.
WilcoxClyde. 1992. God’s Warriors: The Christian Right in Twentieth-Century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
47.
WolbrechtChristina. 2000. The Politics of Women’s Rights: Parties, Positions and Change. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
48.
WolbrechtChristina. 2002. “Explaining Women’s Rights Realignment: Convention Delegates, 1972-1992.” Political Behavior24: 237–282.
49.
WolbrechtChristinaHartneyMichael. 2014. “Ideas about Interests: Explaining the Changing Partisan Politics of Education.” Perspectives on Politics12 (3): 603–630.
50.
ZallerJohn R.Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
