Queery-ing State Legislatures: Creating an Index of Queer-Friendly Districts

• In Event: Race, Place, and Identity in State Politics and Policy

Abstract

Harvey Milk made quite a splash when elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as California’s first openly gay elected official in 1977. Many look to Milk’s election as the start of a ripple effect where openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) candidates sought political office more frequently and increasingly achieved electoral success. Over time, the splash made by Milk certainly culminated over recent years, leading to a ‘Rainbow Wave’ in 2020, where almost 600 openly LGBTQ+ candidates appeared on ballots across the nation.
Over the past two decades, the literature examining the electoral and institutional determinants of increased descriptive representation, particularly for women and racial/ethnic minorities in the legislatures, gained significant attention. Studied at both the federal- and state-levels, previous scholarship sought to identify district-level characteristics correlated with the electoral success of candidates from underrepresented groups in legislative assemblies. However, much of the current scholarship regarding LGBTQ+ representation centers on the substantive impact of LGBTQ+ legislators or characteristics of individual politicians. To date, few studies focus on the factors leading to increased LGBTQ+ descriptive representation.
By leveraging the increased sample size and unique variation found within the U.S. states, I construct an index ascertaining demographic and institutional variables at the state legislative district level best aligned with the electoral success of openly LGBTQ+ candidates in recent election cycles, ultimately identifying what I call ‘queer-friendly districts’. As the ‘Rainbow Wave’ reaches more states, this research adds to our understanding of the determinants of the continued diversification of legislative assemblies. Further, as debates of LGBTQ+ rights ensue at the state-level, this research makes critical contributions to our understanding of how representation affects state politics and policy.

Author

• Kellen A. Kane, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill