Political Attitudes and Sexual Identity in Germany: Examining the Sexuality Gap

Swiss Political Science Review
,
In Press (publ. online before print)
,
Forthcoming

Wurthmann, Constantin
ISSN: 1424-7755 (print), 1662-6370 (online)
DOI: 
10.1111/spsr.12645
Abstract

The association between LGB+ identity and political attitudes in Europe remains relatively underexplored, despite the growing visibility of LGB+ individuals in electoral politics. Existing research tends to focus on a limited range of political attitudes and seldom uses indicators that reflect LGB+ self-identification. This research note presents new evidence based on original survey data (N = 1,599) from Germany in 2021, which directly measures sexual identity and its association with political attitudes. It shows that self-identifying as LGB+ (9.63 percent; N = 154) is associated with left-liberal political attitudes, confirming previous findings from studies in the US and Western Europe. However, in contrast to those studies, LGB+ individuals in Germany do not exhibit more liberal views on migration or greater solidarity with EU member states in financial need. These findings suggest that LGB+ individuals are not always more liberal than heterosexuals.