Sexual Orientation Differences in Whites’ Racial Attitudes

Abstract

Historical and anecdotal accounts present a contradictory image of predominantly white lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) communities in the United States: a unique celebration of racial and other forms of diversity, yet pervasive racial discrimination and exclusion that mirrors racism of the broader society. However, no study to date has compared the racial attitudes of white heterosexual and white LGB Americans. Using nationally representative data from the American National Election Survey 2012 Times Series Study, I investigate the effect of sexual orientation on whites' racial attitudes in the domains of symbolic, color-blind, and old-fashioned racism. Compared to white heterosexuals, white LGB people hold more favorable attitudes toward black people, most notably in the domain of symbolic racism. On average, over 40% of sexual orientation gaps in whites' racial attitudes is explained by white LGB respondents' more liberal political ideology; their greater awareness of homophobic discrimination explains, on average, one-fifth of these sexual orientation gaps. These findings suggest that white LGB racial attitudes must be examined at the intersection of their privileged racial and disadvantaged sexual identities.

Sexual Identities and Reactions to Black Lives Matter

“…These findings advance our understanding of the sexuality gap in several ways. First, quantitative studies have often addressed sexuality differences in general racial attitudes (Grollman, 2018 ; Schnabel, 2018 ; VanDaalen & Santos, 2017 ), but they have often failed to address specific reactions to BLM. Second, this study eschews a simple binary of comparing LGBs to heterosexuals (Grollman, 2018 ; Schnabel, 2018 ; Turnbull-Dugarte, 2021 ) because it is probably not safe to assume political homogeneity between these groups (Swank, 2018b ).…”

“…Sexual identities and racial attitudes are probably related (Battle & Harris, 2013 ; Grollman, 2018 ; Jones, 2021 ; Kleiman et al, 2015 ; Schnabel, 2018 ; Turnbull-Dugarte, 2021 ). Small convenience samples suggest that LGB people were more aware of racial discrimination than heterosexuals (Kleiman et al, 2015 ) and national studies found a sexuality gap in supporting racial stereotypes, racial resentment, endorsing affirmative action, being emotionally connecting to people of color, and distrusting the police (Bunyasi & Smith, 2019 ; Bonilla & Tillery, 2020 ; Grollman, 2018 ; Jones, 2021 ; Schnabel, 2018 ; Taylor et al, 2020 ). However, it should be noted that one study has found a strong link between sexual identities and BLM approval (Swank, 2019 ) while another study found no such relationship (Yellow Horse et al, 2021 ).…”

“…However, the intersectional framing of the BLM platform could have also increased BLM approval among people who are ethnoqueer, welfare recipients, and the formerly incarcerated (Bunyasi & Smith, 2019 ; Strolovitch et al, 2017 ; Swank, 2019 ; Terriquez, 2015 ; VanDaalen & Santos, 2017 ; Yoo et al, 2021 ). Because sexual identities probably relate to ethnic and racial sentiments (Andersen & Jennings, 2010 ; Battle & Harris, 2013 ; Fingerhut & Hardy, 2020 ; Grollman, 2018 ; Kleiman et al, 2015 ; Schnabel, 2018 ; Turnbull-Dugarte, 2021 ), we analyzed how sexual identities link to BLM endorsements. The analysis of 2016 American National Election Study (ANES) data was grounded in LGBT political distinctiveness theories that argue that queer encounters with heteropatriachies inspire a general distrust and suspicion toward institutionalized social hierarchies (Egan, 2008 , 2012 ; Lewis et al, 2011 ).…”

The Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Vote in a More Tolerant Canada

“…American research has consistently shown that, compared to heterosexual voters, LGB voters are more likely to vote Democratic, are more likely to label themselves as liberal (Hertzog, 1996; Egan, 2012; Egan et al, 2008) and twice as likely to engage in political protests (Swank, 2019). LGB voters in the United States take more left-leaning positions on a range of public policy issues, on both LGB civil rights issues (Schaffner and Senic, 2006) and issues completely unrelated to LGB rights (Egan, 2012; Egan et al, 2008; Schnabel, 2018; Grollman, 2018; Swank, 2019). The trends seen in the United States are also reflected in Europe, where LGB voters overwhelmingly support economically left-leaning parties (Turnbull-Dugarte, 2020a).…”

A Happy Way to Grow Old? Grandparent Caregiving, Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction

“…The mediated percentage is only considered significant when the total and indirect effects are significant (Karlson & Holm, 2011;Santini et al, 2016). This method has been proved to be one of the most suitable methodologies to deal with the multiple mediator variables and indirect effect based on a cross-sectional survey data set (Breen et al, 2013;Grollman, 2018;Shahriar, 2018;Bosick & Fomby, 2018). The result of KHB test is shown in Table 18.…”