Far from the (Conservative) tree? Sexuality and intergenerational partisan preferences

Abstract

ABSTRACT A rich pedigree in political sociology establishes the intergenerational nature of political dispositions. In this paper, I present a theoretical argument positing that the acquisition of non-hereditary social identities, such as those related to sexual orientation, can disrupt this intergenerational transmission. Leveraging data from the British Election study, I find that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, particularly those who from Conservative-voting homes, are significantly more likely to break away from the partisan attachments transmitted by the symmetrically partisan households of their heterosexual peers. These findings have implications for theories regarding the intergenerational transmission of political dispositions and signals that LGB individuals, who seek out socialisation experiences beyond those of shared social and structural equivalence with their family and local ecology, are more inclined to form political attachments independently of their parents.