Exit polls from the 2014 midterm election suggest that 4% of the electorate identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, representing the highest recorded LGB turnout in a midterm election since 1998. These LGB voters, 75% in fact, overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates in key congressional races. If LGB people had not voted in the 2014 election, Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Vermont Governor Peter Chumlin would have both been defeated by their Republican challengers. The strong LGBT support for Democratic candidates becomes even more decisive during close races. This research brief considers the impact of the LGBT vote in the 2014 midterm election.
Research has increasingly focused on intentional or planned lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB)‐parent families; however, how young adults in these families navigate the aftermath of parental break‐up and subsequent repartnering is unexamined. This qualitative study of 20 young adults who had experienced their LGB parents' relationship dissolution and/or the formation of an LGB stepfamily examined how young adults perceived their parents' relational transitions and their own relationships with stepparents and siblings. Results indicated that (a) nearly all families negotiated relational transitions (e.g., relationship dissolutions) informally and without legal intervention, (b) young adults perceived both advantages and disadvantages in the ambiguity surrounding their family's nonlegal status, (c) relationships with biological mothers were the strongest tie from break‐up to repartnering and stepfamily formation, (d) geographic distance from their nonbiological parents created hardships in interpersonal closeness, (e) yet, on the whole, young people perceived their families as strong and competent in handling familial transitions.
In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of the Western Political Science Association and other associations, Band 75, Heft 4, S. 935-949
Marginalized groups frequently adopt a respectability politics strategy, presenting themselves as adhering to dominant norms to gain public support. The LGBTQ movement, for example, has consciously portrayed same-gender relationships as exemplifying heteronormative values to win over straight Americans. But how effective is this strategy? Two survey experiments show that presenting LGB people as adhering to, or violating, norms of monogamy and exclusivity has null to minimal effects on straight respondents' views of them or support for their rights. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the effects are moderated by (1) respondents' political predispositions; or (2) the race, ethnicity, or gender of the LGB people being highlighted. Emphasizing the respectability of same-gender relationships is not as effective as the movement has assumed. More broadly, these results call into question the assumption that highlighting "respectable" members of marginalized groups is an effective way to change public opinion.
Purpose This paper considers the challenges and solutions in relation to older lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) housing in the UK. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key housing issues and concerns affecting older LGB&T people in the UK, and ways in which these might be addressed.
Design/methodology/approach This is a practical discussion which focusses on the issues of policies and provision in relation to older LGB&T housing in the UK, both specialist and mainstream housing.
Findings There is a growing body of literature from both the voluntary sector and academic researchers highlighting the housing issues affecting older LGB&T people. There is a need for both specialist and appropriate mainstream housing provision. However, policy and funding issues constrain the creation and/or development of such provision.
Practical implications Policy makers and housing providers in the UK need to address, and meet, the diverse housing needs of older LGB&T people.
Social implications Until their housing needs are met, many older LGB&T people remain concerned about their housing futures, and may end up living in housing which is not their preference and which is not suitable for them.
Originality/value This paper is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the work of Stonewall Housing's network for older LGB&T people, and the challenges and solutions which have been identified in relation to their housing issues and concerns.
