Presidential Communication and the LGBT Community: Toward an Analytic Framework

• In Event: Political Communication Research Focusing on Underrepresented Minorities

Abstract

Scholars have focused on media portrayals of the LGBT community and on the rhetoric and strategies of the LGBT community itself, but have rarely examined presidential communication about this important group. This is a noticeable void in the literature given that presidential discourse about a marginalized group can help shape that group’s sociocultural reality. The present study fills this void by content analyzing the census of presidential communication about the LGBT community. To structure our analysis and facilitate future research in this area, we develop an analytic framework that provides measurable parameters of presidential discourse about the LGBT community. Results indicate that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were key figures in expanding the breadth of presidential communication in this domain.

Authors

• Kevin Coe, U of Utah

• Robert Bruce, U of Utah

• Chelsea Ratcliff, U of Utah