Gay Voters and Gay Issues in U.S.Politics: An Increasing Partisan Divide.

This paper uses data from exit polls conducted by the Voter News Service (VNS) and survey data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) to show that gay voters are very strong Democratic voters, and that identification with the Democratic Party is becoming an increasingly important factor in how voters feel about gay issues. The paper shows that the impact of sexual orientation on individual vote choice has become as important as the effect of race?and that it dwarfs other commonly cited factors in its impact on the vote. In addition, an examination of the opinion of the general public on gay issues over time finds that party identification has played an ever-larger role in the past two decades in determining how individuals feel about gay people and gay rights. As political elites?demonstrated by roll-call votes in Congress?show an increasing partisan divide over gay issues, so does the general public. More than ever, gay voters identify with the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party is identified with gay rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]