Playing it Straight: Gay Men's Claim to Office

Abstract

This research examines three political candidates comparatively to contextualize the intersections of race, sexuality, and gender. Through utilizing a gender and race framework gay male politicians' ways of navigating politics to benefit their electability can be observed. The candidates are also compared on a basis of their conformity with respectability politics. The study could be expanded through an inquiry into other unconventional individuals who are often written off as unfit for office. This includes those typically seen as second class citizens such as immigrants with a long residency in America, or those whose primary language is not English but another that is heavily spoken in their district, or non-violent convicts. These candidates due to their extensive knowledge on how these systems impact communities are the best fit to manage these policies equitably but seldom get that opportunity because of narrow standards of fitness for office.