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This study provides an event history analysis of the factors contributing to a social movement's ability to influence pubic policy. More specifically, the study presents a quantitative, historical examination of the influence of national, state, & local gay & lesbian movements on the decriminalization of state sodomy laws, an important goal of the movement, from 1969 to 1998. Drawing from political opportunity models, resource mobilization theory, & theories of cultural opportunity, the study explores the importance of political conditions, social movement characteristics, & the larger cultural context on the ability of the gay & lesbian movement to achieve its goals. The analyses demonstrate that all three factors have some influence on the likelihood of sodomy law decriminalization, but most importantly, political opportunity & movement characteristics work together to bring about success. During periods of political opportunity, the size & tactics of the lesbian & gay movement influenced the likelihood of success. 2 Tables, 1 Appendix, 76 References. Adapted from the source document.

Research on urban growth and vitality suggests that gay men concentrate in high quality of life cities, indicated by high–tech development, diversity, and city amenities. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which theories of urban renewal and economic development—including Florida's creative class—can explain the neighborhood–level distribution of lesbians and gays within a city. Using 2000 U.S. Census data, tax parcel data, and other data sources, we conduct multivariate spatial regression to investigate the distribution of lesbians and gays in Columbus, Ohio, and their relationship to diversity, openness, and amenities. While the neighborhood distribution of gay men is associated with many of these characteristics, lesbian housing patterns are not. We do, however, find both lesbians and gays concentrate in tracts with other gay and lesbian households and that gay residential patterns are influenced by gay concentration in neighboring tracts suggesting that geographic clustering may also be a protective mechanism.

We examine the circumstances in which labor is successful in the federal appellate courts when it has filed unfair labor practice charges against employers. We specifically focus on legal disputes concerning union organizing. Few studies have examined the role of class dynamics in shaping judicial law, even when labor law is studied. We find evidence that two strategies used by class actors influence judicial lawmaking. The greater the degree to which workers mobilize the law, the more likely they are to win union organizing cases in the federal courts. However, the greater the degree to which employers are organizationally mobilized, the less likely it is that judicial outcomes will favor labor. We also find that legal precedent matters in judicial decision making. We conclude that class dynamics are important in judicial lawmaking. However, we also conclude that, to a degree, judicial decisions also remain autonomous from class dynamics.