"Because we gays have been in the news rather a lot over the last year": the intersections of sexual orientation, race, class and gender in the 2012 U.S. presidential election
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2013-07-08
Type of Work
Department
Towson University. Department of Women's and Gender Studies
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
Copyright protected, all rights reserved.
There are no restrictions on access to this document. An internet release form signed by the author to display this document online is on file with Towson University Special Collections and Archives.
There are no restrictions on access to this document. An internet release form signed by the author to display this document online is on file with Towson University Special Collections and Archives.
Subjects
Abstract
The multi-tiered content analysis investigated the newspaper representations of LGBT-individuals prior to the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Specifically, the study analyzed whether four national newspapers considered the intersections of sexual orientation, race, class, gender and religion in their representation of LGBT- issues. Newspapers analyzed were The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Results suggest that the most discussed LGBT-issue in the presidential elections was same-sex marriage. The study also found that the representation of LGBT-individuals was based on gay and lesbian, upper-class identities, with bisexual and transgender individuals absent in the discourse. Moreover, race and religion of LGBT-individuals remained largely unaddressed. If racial and religious communities were discussed, they were likely to be represented as opposing LGBT-rights. Building a bridge between feminist scholarship and communication research, the study aims to contribute to the emerging engagement with the intersectional framework in media studies.