LGBTQ+ people remain underrepresented in politics, leading scholars to examine a variety of barriers to office. Based on work on women in politics, this paper focuses on one possible barrier: political finance. Is there a political financing gap between straight cisgender and LGBTQ+ candidates? Are there inequalities among LGBTQ+ candidates? If so, what explains them? This article explores these questions by combining a dataset of out LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2015–21 federal elections with political donations data from Elections Canada. When we examine bivariate financing gaps, we find LGBTQ+ candidates receive less money than their straight cisgender counterparts. These gaps are gendered: queer cisgender women, transgender, and nonbinary candidates receive the least money. When we adjust for other variables, we still find LGBTQ+ candidates in the Conservative Party and transgender and nonbinary candidates across parties receive less money. This article contributes to work on gender and identity in campaign finance and LGBTQ+ representation.
