From Closet to Campaign: How Sexual Identity Impacts Voter Perceptions

Abstract

This paper investigates how the invocation of sexuality by political candidates influences voter preferences. To explore this topic, I conducted a randomized control trial (RCT) and manipulated the sexuality of hypothetical political candidates to assess how invoking sexuality affects voter support. I randomly assigned voters to one of nine experimental conditions, which measured a range of variables. Several statistically significant findings emerged, illustrating that sexuality, by itself, does not significantly alter voter perceptions and usually interacts with other factors to shape voting decisions.