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Does sexual orientation and gender identity matter at election time? While previous literature has explored the effect of candidate gender and ethnicity on electoral results, this is the first study to quantitatively investigate the impact of sexual orientation. We build an original dataset combining individual-level data on more than 3,000 candidates in the 2015 UK election with sociodemographic indicators at the constituency level. In addition to sexual orientation and other demographic characteristics, we include candidate education, political experience, and campaign spending. We find that LGBT candidates generally do not have a negative impact on party vote share. Even in more conservative environments, LGBT candidates perform at least as well as their straight counterparts. This work is important to understand the consequences of descriptive representation and, relatedly, how rapid social change happens.

This paper discusses the developmental dynamics of Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) lgbt (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) activism in the context of the European integration (Europeanization) process. Although the official politics of BiH authorities aspires towards the European Union (eu), the country's political deadlock and the steady position of the potential eu candidate, have created conditions in which activism operates with declarative and financial support from European organizations while having very limited impact on policies and local institutions. In this set-up, lgbt activism and non-heterosexual sexualities are placed between the specific local context of an ethnocratic state and the Western European narratives of lgbt rights and freedoms. I draw upon a range of primary sources, including the material obtained through a series of semi-structured interviews with activists, to argue that, for the time being, the lgbt movement in BiH lacks either governmental, political or societal support. However, marginal sites of non-heteronormative resistance could potentially appear as a departure point for creating an intersectionality-sensitive political platform from which to struggle for a general civic and political equality and institutional accountability.

Abstract
We apply an intersectional framework to explore how connections to marginalized communities interact with candidate demographics to shape vote choice in U.S. politics. In an original experiment manipulating candidates' race, gender, sexuality, and endorsements, we show that endorsements by organizations advocating for marginalized communities shape voter evaluations to the same, if not greater, degree as candidate demographics. Moreover, the effects are particularly pronounced for candidates receiving an endorsement from an LGBT advocacy organization. Attitudes toward marginalized communities are mapped onto candidates with ties to those communities, whether the candidate is a member or not; we call this process associational affect. Identity has a complex role in shaping vote choice, and, absent an investigation of power and interlocking social hierarchies, it alone is insufficient to explain vote choice.

In the last decade the number of countries aiming to resettle refugees increased and complementary pathways aiming to relocate humanitarian migrants expanded. Stakeholders in charge of the selection process of candidates and logistical organization of these programs multiplied as a consequence. Because refugee resettlement and complementary pathways are not entrenched in international law, selection processes and logistical organization are at the discretion of stakeholders in charge, sometimes hardly identifiable themselves, and can vary greatly from one scheme to another. For displaced candidates to resettlement and complementary pathways, this opacity can have dramatic consequences in regions of origin. This article will present the case of a group of African lesbian and gay asylum seekers who first sought asylum in a neighboring country, hoping for resettlement to the global North. Because their first country of asylum criminalizes homosexuality, the responsible regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) must circumvent the said country's sovereignty on asylum matters and recognize LGBT asylum seekers as refugees under UN mandate before submitting their cases to resettlement countries. UNHCR agents thus conduct refugee status determination (RSD) and resettlement procedures behind a veil of secrecy, at the risk of antagonizing their local partners and confusing aspiring refugees. Meanwhile, INGOs from the global North cooperate with local LGBT associations to relocate LGBT Africans out of the same African countries. This paper will show African asylum asylum seekers' efforts to qualify for all these programs simultaneously, unaware of the mutually exclusive aspects of some; to become visible to institutions and "sponsors" they deem more powerful, at the expense of solidarity within their group.

AbstractObjectiveMany state legislatures have moved to restrict LGBT students' rights, and the Supreme Court has veered toward greater protection of religious free exercise protection over LGBT nondiscrimination policies. Some studies have found that rights framings are associated with heightened affective and attitudinal polarization, while others have argued that rights framings lead to greater tolerance. Do religious liberties frames affect policy attitudes or group affect? And are some groups' use of religious liberties frames more persuasive?MethodsWe utilize data from a survey that experimentally varies candidate statements on inclusion of LGBT issues in schools using a religious liberties frame and by the group asserting religious liberties. We use the experiment to document the extent to which religious liberties framings shift support for restriction of LGBT rights in schools and affect toward religious and LGBT Americans.ResultsOur analysis suggests there are few direct effects, but that responses to religious liberties frames reflect debates within the parties about morality, social group conflict, and civic nationalism.ConclusionOur results add to the growing literature on religious liberty, and we argue that there is a need to understand why religious liberties frames produce effects in some circumstances but not in others.

On 11 April 2021 Ecuador's presidential run-off election will take place between leftist candidate Andrés Arauz from the UNES coalition and right-wing conservative Guillermo Lasso from the PSC-CREO alliance. Though this appears to be a conventional left-right battle, the successful first-round performance of Yaku Pérez from Pachakutik and Xavier Hervas from the ID surprised many observers. Ecuador's run-off represents the choice between two opposing models of development. Arauz seeks to advance ex-president Rafael Correa's anti-neoliberal "Citizen Revolution," while Lasso promotes the old neoliberal agenda. Both contenders are betting on revenues from extractivism to fund their development plans. In the first round, Arauz and Lasso avoided taking firm stances on issues related to the environment, gender, and sexual minorities. For the run-off, they have both "greened" their agendas and spun their positions as "women- and LGBT-friendly," recognizing the success of alternative third forces led by Pachakutik and the Izquierda Democrática (ID). Despite a left majority in the legislature, creating a unified leftist front is wishful thinking. The differences between Unión por la Esperanza (UNES) and Pachakutik are irreconcilable: the former seems incapable of turning away from its founding figure, Correa, and the indigenous movement continues to be internally fragmented. As both run-off candidates combined received only a little over half of the first-round vote, endorsements are currently a crucial battleground for the finalists. Pachakutik and the ID have announced they will support neither Arauz nor Lasso. The political tradition in Ecuador indicates that votes are not easily transferred, due to voters' weak identification with programmatic militancy and ideology. Whoever wins the presidential run-off will have to deal with an urgent and profound socio-economic crisis reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

AbstractThe Islamic Revolution of 1979, the student protests of 1999, and the Iranian Green Movement are among the most important social movements in contemporary Iran. This tumultuous history makes Iran a prime candidate for any analysis of social movements and collective action. However, a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between studies of Iranian social movements and the larger literature on collective behavior and social movements is yet to be conducted. I divide the literature on Iranian social movements between works focusing on the Islamic Revolution and those addressing movements in post‐revolutionary Iran with a focus on the Iranian Green Movement and point out the major foci of each category. Analyses of the Islamic Revolution mostly emphasize the role of grievances, political opportunities, and Shi'a ideology. Works on post‐revolutionary movements are mainly concerned with analyzing the role of political opportunities and internet and communication technologies. Overall, studies of Iranian social movements seem to be moving towards more connection with and application of mainstream theories of social movements. Nevertheless, I identify four areas with room for improvement: (a) a continuous connection to and dialogue with the mainstream literature on collective behavior and social movements; (b) an emphasis on the use of cutting‐edge analytic techniques, especially quantitative ones; (c) increasing the number of studies that address issue‐specific social movements such as the women's and LGBT rights or environmental movements; and (d) conducting more comparative studies on Iran and a variety of different societies. In addition, I suggest that the scholarship on social movements in contemporary Iran can benefit studies of social movements in general by testing and modifying theories in a sociopolitical setting that is different from where they originally focused on.