Through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall: Barack Obama and the Gay Rights Movement Sidney M. Milkis University of Virginia
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[email protected] Abstract: This paper examines the contentious but formative relationship between Barack Obama and the LGBT movement. Our examination of this uneasy alliance builds on a growing body of work produced by the “UCLA School” that views political parties as coalitions of groups. Although this theory has made a significant contribution to our understanding of political parties – especially during an era when so much partisanship takes place outside of regular party organizations – it does not yet capture the complex interplay between party leaders and groups that shapes party politics and policy. Taking account specifically of the important role that presidents and social movements play in contemporary partisanship and policy development, we argue that the relationship between groups and parties is likely to involve far more bargaining and tension than the prevailing theory predicts. Social movement groups, especially, must put considerable pressure on party leaders – most notably, presidents – to advance their programmatic objective. Moreover, presidents play a critical role in constructing and maintaining party coalitions. We test this argument through a detailed case study of the relationship between the LGBT movement and the Democratic Party under Barack Obama based on a number of secondary and primary sources, including interviews with LGBT movement leaders, (former) White House officials, leading litigants, party officials, and progressive think tank advocates. “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union.