Examining the Nuance in Public Opinion of Pro-LGB Policies in a “Red State”

Stange, Mathew; Kazyak, Emily

doi:10.1007/s13178-015-0213-x

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…Advocacy organizations have documented considerable variation between states in the U.S., and the degree to which states have extended protections against discrimination towards SGM people (e.g., employment, housing, and public accomodations), implemented inclusive adoption and parenting laws, addressed health and safety issues (e.g., non-discrimination in health coverage and inclusive anti-hate crimes legislation), and enabled transgender people to correct gender markers in identity documents (ACLU, 2018;Movement Advancement Project, 2015). Findings from several studies suggest that support for policies that protect the rights of LGBTQ communities is greater, and experiences of discrimination among SGM individuals are lower, in urban environments than in rural areas (Casazza, Ludwig, & Cohn, 2015;Stange & Kazyak, 2016;Swank, Frost, & Fahs, 2012).…”

Section: Structural and Social Stigma In The Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Landscape of Support and Safety Among Sexual Minority Women and Gender Non-conforming Individuals: Perceptions After the 2016 US Presidential Election

et al. 2018

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As part of a larger online survey, we conducted an internet-based study that included both qualitative and quantitative data from a national non-probability sample to examine how sexual minority women and gender non-conforming individuals described their experiences and concerns after the 2016 election. The current study explores responses in relation to local social and political climate. Quantitative analysis of survey responses (N=969) examined changes in participant concerns relative to state policy context (number of positive policies offering equal rights and protections for LGBTQ communities) and size of community (e.g., urban and rural). Analysis of narrative responses to open-ended questions (n=605) explored experiences and perceptions of safety and support relative to geographic location. Quantitative analyses showed no difference in levels of concern by size of community of residence and greater concerns among participants in higher equality states compared to those in negative equality states. Qualitative analyses revealed two broad categories of themes: perceptions of safety and support in the state, region or local context (safe havens and hostile locations); and strategies for navigating in the current or changing local social and political landscape (hunkering down in safe places and with safe people, increasing vigilance and evasion, fleeing unsafe locations, and paving the road to a better future). Findings underscore the broad impact of national elections on perception of safety and civil rights at all levels of the social and political environment.

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Section: Structural and Social Stigma In The Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Landscape of Support and Safety Among Sexual Minority Women and Gender Non-conforming Individuals: Perceptions After the 2016 US Presidential Election

et al. 2018

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“…LGBTQs (Jones et al, 2014;Swank et al, 2012Swank et al, , 2013, while the Northeast is the most accepting US region in terms of key gay rights issues such as same-sex marriage (Jones et al, 2014). Still, some recent analyses demonstrate that the idea of the rural, Southern, or Midwestern regions as especially homophobic may no longer be true -or perhaps was never was quite the case as we imagine it (Fiorina et al, 2008;Salka and Burnett, 2011;Stange and Kazyak, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Most research that has attempted to deconstruct the urban/rural and North/ South narratives of gay-friendliness has focused on nuancing the rural and Southern -and Midwestern, which is often a stand-in for the rural in metronormative rhetoric - (Gray, 2009;Kazyak, 2011Kazyak, , 2012Stange and Kazyak, 2016). This article contributes to the critique of metronormativity by switching the focus and deconstructing narratives of the urban as an exceptionally gay-friendly oasis.…”

Section: Sexuality Identity and Placementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, Emily Kazyak’s (2011) interviews in the Midwest show how the lived experience of rural queers disputes the traditional narrative of the rural as closeted, hidden, and oppressed. In recent quantitative work, in fact, Stange and Kazyak (2016) show that assumptions about the monolithic homophobia of “red states” like Nebraska are misguided, finding that the majority of the state approves of anti-discrimination and marriage laws that would benefit LGBs, including in rural areas of the state. Similarly, Eldridge et al.’s (2006) analysis of rural anti-gay attitudes suggests that a number of factors mediate rural opinions on gay rights, including peer contact, perceptions of the cause of homosexuality, and AIDS anxieties.…”

Section: Sexuality Identity and Placementioning

confidence: 99%

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“Different than an infantry unit down in Georgia”: Narratives of queer liberation in the post-DADT military

Connell

2017

Sexualities

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More than five years out from its implementation, we still know relatively little about how members of the US military and its ancillary institutions are responding to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Contrary to what one might expect given the long history of LGBTQ antipathy in the military, I found in interviews with Boston area Reserve Officer Training Core (ROTC) cadets unanimous approval for the repeal of DADT. When pressed to explain why there was so much homogeneity of favorable opinion regarding the repeal, interviewees repeatedly offered the same explanation: that Boston, in particular, is such a progressive place that even more conservative institutions like the ROTC are spared anti-gay sentiment. They imagined the Southern and/or rural soldier they will soon encounter when they enter the US military, one who represents the traditionally homophobic attitudes of the old military in contrast to their more enlightened selves. This ''metronormative'' narrative has been critiqued elsewhere as inadequate for understanding the relationship between sexuality and place; this article contributes to that critique by taking a new approach. Rather than deconstruct narratives of queer rurality, as the majority of metronormativity scholarship has done, I deconstruct these narratives of urban queer liberation. I find that such narratives mask the murkier realities of LGBTQ attitudes in urban contexts and allow residents like the ROTC cadets in this study to displace blame about anti-gay prejudice to a distant Other, outside of their own ranks.

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“…It is also an instructive case study insofar as the state is actually comparable to the rest of the nation when it comes to attitudes about LGBTQ rights. In 2013, the majority of Nebraskans supported same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ rights and Nebraskans' opinions mirrored national public opinion on these issues (Stange and Kazyak, 2016). Nebraska is also fairly average when it comes to measures of religiosity.…”

Section: Nebraska Context: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Backlash or a Positive Response?: Public Opinion of LGB Issues After Obergefell v. Hodges

Kazyak

Stange

2018

Journal of Homosexuality

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Following Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex marriage remains controversial and anti-LGBT state legislation has been passed, which raises questions about whether the Supreme Court's ruling may have created a backlash. We use data from two waves of a general population survey of Nebraskans conducted before and after the decision to answer three questions. First, we test three theories of how the Court decision influenced public opinion. We find that support for same-sex marriage was significantly higher following the ruling, suggesting that there was not a backlash to it. Second, we assess whether people perceive that the court accurately reflects the public's opinion. We find that people who favor same-sex marriage are more likely to think that the ruling refects public opinion very well; those who oppose same-sex marriage are more likely to think that the ruling does not at all reflect public opinion. Third, we examine the association between discussing gay rights and support for same-sex marriage, finding that those who talk about LGB issues very often are more likely to favor same-sex marriage. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to two of the themes of this special issue: the influence of marriage equality on Americans' understandings of marriage and the impact of marriage equality on future LGBT activism.

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Examining the Nuance in Public Opinion of Pro-LGB Policies in a “Red State”

Cited by 10 publications

References 74 publications

Mapping the Landscape of Support and Safety Among Sexual Minority Women and Gender Non-conforming Individuals: Perceptions After the 2016 US Presidential Election

Mapping the Landscape of Support and Safety Among Sexual Minority Women and Gender Non-conforming Individuals: Perceptions After the 2016 US Presidential Election

“Different than an infantry unit down in Georgia”: Narratives of queer liberation in the post-DADT military

Backlash or a Positive Response?: Public Opinion of LGB Issues After Obergefell v. Hodges

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