Do Voters Prefer Lesbian Candidates to Gay Male Politicians?

[Behind the Aegis]

This year has seen more lesbians than ever before elected as mayor of major cities in the United States.

Annise Parker, the former mayor of Houston, was the first openly LGBTQ person to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city. Parker left office in 2016 and now serves as the president and CEO of the Victory Fund, a political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of LGBTQ people elected to office.

Speaking on The Ten podcast, this week, Mayor Parker points out that while the vast majority of candidates the LGBTQ community puts forth are gay men — just as the majority of politicians in the U.S. are men — lesbian and female bisexual candidates actually win at a higher percentage rate compared to gay male candidates.

The reason for this is complex, Parker says, "Often part of that is that women candidates, in general, tend to wait until they're a little bit later in their career. They have a little more gravitas, a little more experience before they enter politics."

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