Changing Media, Changing Minds: the Lesbian and Gay
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CHANGING MEDIA, CHANGING MINDS: THE LESBIAN AND GAY MOVEMENT, TELEVISION, AND PUBLIC OPINION By Jeremiah J. Garretson Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Political Science December, 2009 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Marc J. Hetherington Professor John G. Geer Professor Bruce I. Oppenheimer Professor Christian R. Grose © 2009 by Jeremiah Garretson All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not be possible without a Vanderbilt University summer research grant that provided needed resources for research which is now Chapter 4 of this dissertation. It would impossible to understate the impact that the faculty and students in the Department on Political Science have had on this dissertation and particularly the Chair of the Dissertation Committee, Marc Hetherington. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………..vi LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………...vii Chapter I.INTRODUCTION: CHANGING MEDIA, CHANGING MINDS? ................................ 1 A Broad or Narrow Liberalization? .......................................................................... 8 Additional Factors in the Liberalization of Attitudes toward Homosexuality ........ 11 Outline of the Dissertation ...................................................................................... 14 II.THE THEORETICAL, HISTORICAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF THE LESBIAN AND GAY MOVEMENT ................................................................ 19 The Nature of Research on the Lesbian and Gay Movement ................................. 20 The Conception of Homosexual Identity ................................................................ 22 World War II, the Kinsey Report, and the Homophile Movement ......................... 23 The 1960s and the Creation of the Modern Lesbian and Gay Movement .............. 28 Why Identity Politics?: Social Identity Theory and Movement Development ....... 32 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 35 III.THE LESBIAN AND GAY MOVEMENT AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES ..... 37 Bill Clinton, Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell, and the Republican Revolution ..................... 48 Estimating Lesbian and Gay Rights Support in Congress ...................................... 49 The Ideal Point Model ............................................................................................. 53 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 60 IV.THE CAUSE OF PUBLIC OPINION SHIFTS ON LESBIAN AND GAY ISSUES....................................................................................................................... 62 Research on Public Opinion involving Lesbians and Gays .................................... 68 Hypotheses Regarding Opinion Change towards Identity Groups ......................... 72 I. The Partisan Effect ..................................................................................... 72 II. The Media Effect ...................................................................................... 73 III. The Cohort Effect .................................................................................... 75 iv IV. Religion and Demographic Effects ......................................................... 76 V. THE POLITICAL PROCESS, ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA, AND PUBLIC OPINION CHANGE ................................................................................... 78 Data and Methods.................................................................................................... 78 The Individual Level Analysis ................................................................................ 82 Results and Discussion ............................................................................................ 87 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 103 VI. THE EFFECT OF MEDIA CONTACT WITH LESBIANS AND GAY: AN EXPERIMENTAL CONFIRMATION..................................................................... 104 Observational vs. Experimental Studies................................................................ 105 Experimental Studies and Public Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gays .............. 108 The Control and Treatment Conditions ................................................................. 109 The Subjects and Their Characteristics ................................................................. 113 Results and Discussion .......................................................................................... 120 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 125 VII. TAKING THE BAIT: BELIEFS ABOUT LESBIAN AND GAY FAMILIES AND THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ...................................................... 127 Media-led Priming and Its Effect on Vote Choice ................................................ 130 Ground Zero: Ohio in 2004 ................................................................................... 137 An Individual Level Analysis of Ohio .................................................................. 141 Local vs. National Effects ..................................................................................... 143 Determining Causation: The 2000-2002-2004 ANES Panel ................................ 148 Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................................... 156 VIII. CONCLUSION: BUSH, OBAMA, AND THE FUTURE OF LESBIAN AND GAY PUBLIC ATTITUDES .................................................................................. 158 Obama: A Difficult Position ................................................................................. 162 The Annihilation and Creation of Tolerance ......................................................... 165 I. APPENDIX I: QUESTION CODING FOR SECOND POOLED CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA SET .......................................................................... 167 II. APPENDIX II: TREATMENT AND CONTROL CONDITIONS FOR EXPERIMENT.......................................................................................................... 172 III. APPENDIX III: QUESTION WORDING FOR EXPERIMENTAL LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS SCALE ................................................................................... 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 180 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1-1. Summery of Questions Used to Construct Abstract Equality Measure .................. 18 3-1. The Changing Basis of Support for the Gay Rights Bill in Congress .................... 42 5-1. Multi-Level Logistic Regression for All Respondents and Democrats .................. 88 5-2. Multi-Level Logistic Regression for Republicans and Independents ..................... 91 5-3. Multi-Level Logistic Regression for All Respondent and Democrats Only Controlling for Knowing Lesbians and Gay and Attribution of Homosexuality over Time ................................................................................. 95 5-4. Multi-Level Logistic Regression for Republicans and Independents Only Controlling for Knowing Lesbians and Gay and Attribution of Homosexuality over Time ................................................................................. 96 6-1. Regression Analysis of Experimental Data .......................................................... 124 7-1. Predicting Change in Bush Vote in Ohio (County-Level) .................................... 140 7-2. 2004 Ohio Exit Poll .............................................................................................. 144 7-3. 2004 National Exit Poll ........................................................................................ 145 7-4. Gay Adoption and the 2000-2002-2004 ANES Panel Study................................ 152 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1-1. Stability and Political Issues ..................................................................................... 2 1-2. Social Issues and Public Opinion ............................................................................. 3 1-3. Public Opinion Towards Same-Sex Relationships ................................................... 4 1-4. The Number of Lesbian and Gay-Related Television News Stories and Major Fictional Characters on NBC, ABC, and CBS: 1968-2000..................... 7 1-5. Abstract Support for Lesbian and Gay Equality over Time ..................................... 9 1-6. Interpersonal Contact with Lesbians and Gays and the Belief in a Origin of Homosexuality ............................................................................................. 13 3-1. Changing Effects of Race and District Urbanicity in Predicting Cosponsorship of the Gay Rights Bill: 1974-1992 .......................................... 41 3-2. Changing Effects of Party and District Presidential Vote in Predicting Cosponsorship of the Gay Rights Bill: 1974-1992 ........................ 41 3-3. Density Estimates of Gay and Lesbian Policy Support for the Pre-Clinton House (1986-1992) and Contemporary House (1999-2000) ......................................