A new study from the Williams Institute seems to prove a long-standing assumption about queer Republicans. A large portion of them are unhappy with their sexual orientation and don’t want to be part of the LGBTQ community.
In fact, over a third of LGB Republicans say being LGBTQ is a “personal shortcoming” and almost half wish they were straight.
Related: Voting deadlines, registration & what’s at stake for LGBTQ voters in 2020
“There is a common belief that LGBT identity and Republican affiliation are incompatible,” said lead author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “Although they represent a small minority, some LGB people are affiliated as Republicans. However, it is striking to find how much they differ from sexual minority Democrats in terms of their connections with LGBT communities.”
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Fewer LGB Republicans say they feel a part of the LGBTQ community and view participation in the community as a positive thing.
Forty-one percent of LGB Republicans say they would rather be completely heterosexual. Thirty-eight percent think that being gay or bisexual is a “personal shortcoming.”
LGB Republicans were less likely than LGB Democrats to agree that participating in the LGBTQ community is a positive thing or were proud of the LGBTQ community. They are also less likely to feel that problems faced by the LGBTQ community are their own problems.
Researchers analyzed data from the Generations Study, a representative sample of non-transgender LGB people in the U.S., and found some similarities between LGB people of the two political affiliations.
LGB Republicans and Democrats are similar in the degree to which they disclosed their sexual identity to others, the Institute says in the report. And people of both political affiliations perceive similar levels of rejection and discrimination in their local communities.
LGB Democrats were twice as likely as LGB Republicans to say that it is important to be politically active in the LGBTQ community.
A separate report said that nearly nine million LGBTQ adults are registered and eligible to vote in the 2020 general election and half of registered LGBTQ voters are Democrats, 15% are Republicans, 22% are independents, and 13% identify with another party or did not know with which party they most identified.
The Log Cabin Republicans have been making a push recently to convince the LGBTQ community that they should support President Donald Trump. The effort has been met with scorn from the community after years of nonstop attacks from the administration.
The group endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign and a slate of anti-LGBTQ candidates, including one who is associated with “the most anti-gay campaign in years” and another candidate who said that LGBTQ people want to make pedophilia “socially acceptable.”
