Respectability Politics and Straight Support for LGB Rights

Abstract

Marginalized groups frequently adopt a respectability politics strategy, presenting themselves as adhering to dominant norms to gain public support. The LGBTQ movement, for example, has consciously portrayed same-gender relationships as exemplifying heteronormative values to win over straight Americans. But how effective is this strategy? Two survey experiments show that presenting LGB people as adhering to, or violating, norms of monogamy and exclusivity has null to minimal effects on straight respondents’ views of them or support for their rights. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the effects are moderated by (1) respondents’ political predispositions; or (2) the race, ethnicity, or gender of the LGB people being highlighted. Emphasizing the respectability of same-gender relationships is not as effective as the movement has assumed. More broadly, these results call into question the assumption that highlighting “respectable” members of marginalized groups is an effective way to change public opinion.

Candidate Identity and Campaign Priming: Analyzing Voter Support for Pete Buttigieg’s Presidential Run as an Openly Gay Man

“…This finding is consistent with previous scholarship, which found that support for gay and lesbian candidates decreases when they are in visible same-sex relationships (Doan and Haider-Markel 2010;Doan, Loehr and Miller 2014;Haider-Markel et al 2017). It is also consistent with prior work showing that a respectability strategy that portrays same-sex relationships as exemplifying heteronormative expectations does not necessarily gain the support of straight Americans (Jones 2022). In fact, our finding points to the double standards that gay candidates face.…”

“…To counter the “queer” image that several pundits sought to lodge in Middle America’s mind, some Democrats believed that accentuating his military experience in Afghanistan and his devout Christian faith would help counter prejudice. In sharp contrast, some queer activists criticized Buttigieg for a centrist platform and a heteronormative presentation, in line with a respectability strategy often embraced by the LGBTQ movement in the portrayal of same-sex relationships (Jones 2022). 3 But what was the reality of America’s propensity to vote for an openly gay man in a visible same-sex relationship?…”