Degrees of Acceptance: Variation in Public Attitudes toward Segments of the LGBT Community

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community includes a diverse set of groups, including distinct groups based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, but it is not clear whether the public makes distinctions in their attitudes toward these subgroups. If they do, what factors motiv...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political research quarterly 2017-12, Vol.70 (4), p.861-875
Main Authors: Lewis, Daniel C., Flores, Andrew R., Haider-Markel, Donald P., Miller, Patrick R., Tadlock, Barry L., Taylor, Jami K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Bisexuality
Cognition
Community
Cues
Gays & lesbians
Gender identity
Homosexuality
Lesbianism
LGBTQ people
Men
Partisanship
Political factors
Public opinion
Religiosity
Same sex marriage
Sexual orientation
Transgender persons
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community includes a diverse set of groups, including distinct groups based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, but it is not clear whether the public makes distinctions in their attitudes toward these subgroups. If they do, what factors motivate individuals to evaluate gays and lesbians differently from transgender people? This study analyzes Americans' attitudes toward these communities, and it evaluates their support for nondiscrimination protections. We find that public attitudes are significantly more negative toward transgender people and policies pertaining to them than they are toward gay men and lesbians and related policies. The analyses reveal that differences in these attitudes are associated with social contact effects, variation in cognitive consistency, elite cues, and the varying magnitudes of key political factors, such as religiosity and partisanship.
ISSN:1065-9129
1938-274X
DOI:10.1177/1065912917717352