Gay Politics, Urban Politics

Since the late 1960s the burgeoning gay rights movement has begun to have a profound effect on the politics of many American cities. More than 135 cities and counties have passed local ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and openly gay city council members and other public officials have been elected in urban areas from Melbourne, Iowa, to Dallas, Texas. These are major triumphs, many would argue, for an identity movement that has been an active presence on America's political horizon for only several decades. In "Gay Politics, Urban Politics," Robert W. Bailey presents the most comprehensive exploration to date of gay and lesbian politics in urban settings. Drawing from surveys of political attitudes and voting patterns among gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, Bailey's study is a revealing window into how sexual identity has fostered political alliances. The book investigates mayoral voting patterns in America's three largest cities--New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago--and presents four in-depth case studies of specific urban political settings: Birmingham, Alabama; New York City; Philadelphia; and San Francisco. Bailey addresses such issues as how policy is swayed in cities not known as gay centers and how specific issues are influenced in urban areas where gays and lesbians become part of the governing regime. Bringing together identity, queer, and social organization theories, this book offers a rich addition to the literature of political science and urban affairs, fields that call for a much closer relationship with lesbian and gay studies. In a broader sense, it seeks to reinvigorate the social science approach to the study of urbanpolitical phenomena.