At the Intersection of Transgender Attitudes, Identity Politics, and Vote Choice

Abstract “At the Intersection of Transgender Attitudes, Identity Politics, and Vote Choice” Amy Howard and Dr. Wesley Wehde, Department of Political Science, International Affairs and Public Administration, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. Political scientists have been increasingly focused on the role of identity politics in determining vote choice, with recent work including the potential penalties faced by gender and sexual minorities. Research indicates that both candidate and voter characteristics play a role in vote choice, with the largest penalties incurred by transgender candidates and small or no penalties assigned by non-religious and politically progressive voters. However, our study improves on extant research by differentiating between male and female transgender candidates; adding a non-binary option for gender identity; including a bisexual option for sexual orientation; and differentiating between moderate and far-left or far-right candidate ideologies within the Republican and Democratic Parties, respectively. In line with previous research, we conducted a conjoint experiment to examine the peculiar impact of male/female transgender, non-binary gender identity, and bisexuality on vote choice, even in comparison with straight and gay candidates. Respondents were asked to choose between ten sets of hypothetical candidates for their district House of Representatives, with Republican or right-leaning respondents being shown randomized combinations of candidates who were classified as “moderate” or “far-right,” and Democratic or left-leaning respondents being shown randomized combinations of candidates who were classified as “moderate” or “far-left.” The remaining candidate attributes were also randomized for each respondent, and included age, race, gender, education, religion, ideology, previous experience, and sexual orientation. Upon completion of our data analysis, we expect our results to be consistent with those of the aforementioned research, with gay candidates—particularly black, gay candidates—facing penalties at the ballot box, and transgender candidates facing higher penalties than gay candidates. We will build on these findings by differentiating between genders in “transgender,” and with the addition of the “non-binary,” “bisexual” options, as well as the inclusion of “far-right” and “far-left” political ideologies. This study will contribute to our understanding of how voter and candidate identities affect vote choice, particularly in the case of gender and sexual minority candidates. Such an understanding can be used to develop policies and strategies that will ultimately increase LGBTQ+ representation in government, and improve the safety, welfare and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ Americans