LGBT Representation in Congress: Ideology, Identity, and Constituent Interests

• In Event: Queer(ing) Candidates

Abstract

Scholars of American Politics have long sought to identify the factors motivating Members of Congress to substantively represent the interests of minoritized groups. Indeed, questions of subgroup representation and how numerically-small constituencies come to be recognized speak to the fundamental tenets of democracy. The present study builds on existing research by using the case of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT). Americans to evaluate three competing representation frameworks. Namely, we utilize an original dataset of congressional cosponsorship data spanning the 109th through 116th Congresses (2005-2020) to examine how political ideology, legislator identity, and constituent interests affect LGBT representation in the House of Representatives. This analysis goes beyond previous research by exploring how legislative behavior on LGBT issues is shaped both within and between the major parties.

Our results suggest that political ideology, legislator identity, and constituency interests all contribute to the legislative representation of LGBTs in Congress. When considering the average House member, legislator ideology, district ideology, member religion, gender, and a district's evangelical population consistently moderate for LGBT-related legislative activities. This is consistent with previous studies that have examined one or more of these factors. However, we improve upon previous work by exploring heterogeneity in how members of each party respond to statistical predictors. The legislative behavior of Republicans, on one hand, is impacted mildly by their ideology but is substantively unchanged by individual characteristics and district demographics. In contrast, Democratic House members vary in their levels of support of pro-LGBT bills based on legislator and district ideology; individual characteristics such as sexual orientation, religion, and gender; and the racial and religious demographics of their district.

We begin with a brief introduction to LGBT representation in the United States, detailing how laws guaranteeing the rights of this group have largely been stymied at the federal level. We proceed then to explore how existing research premise the theoretical expectations of this study. After presenting our set of expectations, we describe our data gathering process and methodological approach. We then explain the results of our empirical analysis. This includes 1) predicting the pro-LGBT activity of the House members over the last decade and a half and 2) examining how these factors have differently shaped the efforts of Democratic and Republican MCs. Lastly, we discuss the impact of our findings and avenues for future research.

Author

• Joseph Saraceno, University of Southern California