Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T14:20:53.060Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Study of LGBT Politics and Its Contributions to Political Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2011

Gary Mucciaroni
Gary Mucciaroni
Affiliation:
Temple University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Although the study of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) politics appears to be widely accepted within political science, a recent survey of political scientists reported some skepticism about its legitimacy and scholarly worth (Novkov and Barclay 2010). This article examines potential concerns about LGBT studies and draws attention to the field's scholarly importance. The first part briefly addresses three objections to the study of LGBT politics that echo criticisms of the study and practice of identity politics. I argue that these objections do not withstand scrutiny, and that the case for studying the intersection of politics and sexuality within the discipline of political science is compelling. Sexuality and gender are fundamental aspects of human societies that reflect power relations and increasingly have become the object of public policy. The second part of the article examines the burgeoning literature on the politics of sexual orientation and identity. Beyond its intrinsic importance, LGBT politics contributes to a broader understanding of politics, power, social movements, public opinion, policymaking institutions, urban politics, and the relationship between science and public policy. Though not exhaustive, this review addresses many of the principal empirical and theoretical works in this area.

Type
Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 17 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, Ellen Ann. 2005. Out of the Closets and into the Courts: Legal Opportunity Structure and Gay Rights Litigation. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Bailey, Robert W. 1999. Gay Politics, Urban Politics: Identity and Economics in the Urban Setting. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Barclay, Scott. 2010. “In Search of Judicial Activism in the Same Sex Marriage Cases: Sorting the Evidence from Courts, Legislatures, Initiatives and Amendments.” Perspectives on Politics 8: 111–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayer, Ronald. 1981. Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Blasius, Mark. 1994. Gay and Lesbian Politics: Sexuality and the Emergence of a New Ethic. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Bloom, Allan. 1987. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Brewer, Paul R. 2002. “Framing, Value Words, and Citizens' Explanations of Their Issue Opinions.” Political Communication 19: 303–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, Paul R. 2003. “Values, Political Knowledge, and Public Opinion about Gay Rights.” Public Opinion Quarterly 67: 173–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, Sarah E., Kaib, David, and O'Connor, Karen. 2000. “Sex and the Supreme Court: Gays, Lesbians and Justice.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A., Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde, 377–408. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Button, James W., Rienzo, Barbara A., and Wald, Kenneth D.. 1997. Private Lives, Public Conflicts: Battles over Gay Rights in American Communities. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Cain, Patricia. 2000. Rainbow Rights: The Role of Lawyers and Courts in the Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Movement. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
D'Emilio, John. 2007. “Will the Courts Set Us Free?” In The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A. and Wilcox, Clyde, 39–64. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Engel, Stephen M. 2007. “Organizational Identity as a Constraint on Strategic Action: A Comparative Analysis of Gay and Lesbian Interest Groups.” Studies in American Political Development 21:66–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, Steven. 1996. Impure Science: AIDS, Activism and the Politics of Knowledge. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Gerstmann, Evan. 1999. The Constitutional Underclass: Gays, Lesbians, and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gitlin, Todd. 1995. The Twilight of Common Dreams: Why America is Wracked by Culture Wars. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Golebiowska, Ewa A. 2001. “Group Stereotypes and Political Evaluation.” American Politics Research 29: 533–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golebiowska, Ewa A., and Thomsen, C. J.. 1999. “Group Stereotypes of Individuals: The Case of Gay and Lesbian Political Candidates.” In Gays and Lesbians in the Democratic Process: Public Policy, Public Opinion and Political Representation, ed. Riggle, Ellen D. B. and Tadlock, Barry L., 192–219. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Haeberle, Steven H. 1999. “Gay and Lesbian Rights: Emerging Trends in Public Opinion and Voting Behavior.” In Gays and Lesbians in the Democratic Process, ed. Riggle, Ellen D. B. and Tadlock, Barry L., 146–69. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Haider-Markel, Donald P. 2000. “Lesbian and Gay Politics in the States: Interest Groups, Electoral Politics, and Policy.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A., Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde, 290–346. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Haider-Markel, Donald P. 2010. Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections, and Policy Representation. Washington: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Haider-Markel, Donald P., and Meier, Kenneth J.. 1996. “The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Rights: Expanding the Scope of the Conflict.” Journal of Politics 58: 332–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hertzog, Mark. 1996. The Lavender Vote: Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals in American Electoral Politics. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Lax, Jeffrey R., and Phillips, Justin H.. 2009. “Gay Rights in the States: Public Opinion and Policy Responsiveness.” American Political Science Review 103: 367–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehring, Gary L. 2003. Officially Gay: The Political Construction of Sexuality by the U.S. Military. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, Gregory B., and Rogers, Marc A.. 1999. “Does the Public Support Equal Employment Rights for Gays?” In Gays and Lesbians in the Democratic Process, ed. Riggle, Ellen D. B. and Tadlock, Barry L., 118–45. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Meier, Kenneth J. 1994. The Politics of Sin. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z. 2001. “The Public Clash of Private Values.” In The Public Clash of Private Values: The Politics of Morality Policy, ed. Mooney, Christopher Z., 3–18. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Mucciaroni, Gary. 2008. Same Sex, Different Politics: Success and Failure in Struggles for Gay Rights. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mucciaroni, Gary, and Killian, Mary Lou. 2003. “Immutability, Science, and Legislative Debate over Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Rights.” Journal of Homosexuality 47 (1): 53–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novkov, Julie, and Barclay, Scott. 2010. “Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and the Transgendered in Political Science: Report on a Discipline-Wide Survey.” PS: Political Science and Politics 42 (1): 95–106.Google Scholar
Oldmixon, Elizabeth Anne. 2005. Uncompromising Positions: God, Sex, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Washington: Georgetown University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pacelle, Richard L. Jr. 1996. “Seeking Another Forum: The Courts and Lesbian and Gay Rights.” In Gay Rights, Military Wrongs: Political Perspectives on Lesbians and Gays in the Military, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A., 195–216. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Phelan, Shane. 1994. Getting Specific: Postmodern Lesbian Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Pinello, Daniel R. 2003. Gay Rights and American Law. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Riggle, Ellen D., and Ellis, Alan L.. 1994. “Political Tolerance of Homosexuals: The Role of Group Attitudes and Legal Principles.” Journal of Homosexuality 26: 135–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rimmerman, Craig A. 2000. “Beyond Political Mainstreaming: Reflections on Lesbian and Bay Organizations and the Grassroots.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig, Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde, 54–78. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rimmerman, Craig A. 2002. From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Rom, Mark. 2000. “Gays and AIDS: Democratizing Disease?” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A., Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde, 217–48. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Gerald N. 1991. The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring about Social Change? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sharp, Elaine B. 1999. Culture Wars and Local Politics. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Sharp, Elaine B. 2005. Morality Politics in American Cities. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Smith, Miriam. 2008. Political Institutions and Lesbian and Gay Rights in the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spann, Girardeau A. 1993. Race against the Court: The Supreme Court and Minorities in Contemporary America. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Edward. 1999. The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T. 2001. “What Constitutes Morality Policy? A Cross-National Analysis.” In The Public Clash of Private Values: The Politics of Morality Policy, ed. Mooney, Christopher, 37–51. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D. 2000. “The Context of Gay Politics.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig, Wald, Kenneth, and Wilcox, Clyde, 1–30. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde, and Wolpert, Robin A.. 2000. “Gay Rights in the Public Sphere: Public Opinion on Gay and Lesbian Equality.” In The Politics of Gay Rights, ed. Rimmerman, Craig A., Wald, Kenneth D., and Wilcox, Clyde, 409–32. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar