Surrogate Representation of the Homosexual Minority Group

The primary goal of any elected official is to accurately reflect the interest of their constituency. With the growing social issues surrounding the rights of the LGBT community, it is more important now than ever for officials to empathize with the plight of the minority group to remain viable in the public eye. Our research will delve into any existing correlation, if there is one to be found, between State House of Representatives members and LGBT support via the “No Hate” pledge. Primarily, we will examine approval ratings in the time frame where most of them signed onto the pledge during the 2009-2010 election years and then again after signing in the 2012-2013 election year. Additionally, we will examine key spokespersons speaking out against homosexual rights, and evaluate the fluctuation, if any, in their poll numbers. In order to obtain the information necessary to assess a fluctuation, we will also need poll numbers from a group of constituents that did not sign the pledge or show any interest in supporting marriage equality. The main scope of this research will look at State House Representatives from a “red” state, a “blue” state, and a “battleground” state in order to maintain a non-limited scope on the issue. It is imperative to note that any fluctuation could just be the natural ebb and flow of poll numbers and drawing any conclusions may be premature. However, this social issue is very large in scale and currently being discussed in a multitude of forums all over the world