Can people's sexual traits/identity influence their politics?

[ProgressiveModerate]

Upfront note: I don't want this thread to get weird and understand if mods think this is too much for this forum, but I think it's worth serious discussions.

This idea came from a discussion from a while back about politics within the LGBTQ and specifically a tangent about whether more dominant/top and submissive/bottom gay men had noticeable different politics - largely with the hypothesis that dominant gay men may be more likely to vote like their straight peers and hence more favorable to Republicans.

Sexual traits can also be manifested in the form of different kinks - would people who like furry, sadism, humiliation, or BDSM have different politics? If so is it their kinks shaping their politics or their politics/worldview influencing those kinks?

For me, I feel like this question is a bit chicken and egg - I definitely think there is a correlation between sexual traits and politics, but whether it's sexual desires that shape some of their worldviews or their worldviews shaping their sexual desires is a hard question to answer.

[Skill and Chance]

This is complicated because historically embracing any exotic sexual behavior correlated with being left of center, regardless of the specific practices.  That may be changing more recently. 

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

AFAIK kink communities probably lean left generally, and I'd guess the communities around the really weird stuff are that to a greater extent(though I'm not sure about that. human pet guy exists. Some discretion is advised when thinking about googling)

[ottermax]

I believe the boundaries are less about roles or kinks themselves and one's attitudes towards sexuality.

In my personal dating experience the more conservative men I would meet would be very secretive about their sexuality, uncomfortable discussing it, and preferred a more binary perspective on sexual roles. I generally found these men very boring to date because what fun is it to just be stuck in sexuality as a very transactional task-oriented activity?

The more liberal minded men tended to be less stuck on having a label or role, an openness to kinks, but not necessarily a commitment to them, and just a generally open-minded attitude towards sexuality, gender, and therefore politics.

This might simply come down to personality differences. I know lots of gay men who believe in very binary relationship roles and it works for them (they also tend to be extremely uh... conservative on economic issues and are generally Democrats due to the social pressure to be gay and a Democrat). And I know lots of gays who are just less stuck on labels or roles and tend to be extremely progressive.

I think what is fascinating is how much the LGBTQ hatred of Republicans has really harmed they opportunities to win over the more moderate / conservative queer voter. Lots of these people exist but I think they are really turned off by the extreme rhetoric on queer issues even if they might agree on other issues like taxes, policing, Israel, etc.

[ProgressiveModerate]

I believe the boundaries are less about roles or kinks themselves and one's attitudes towards sexuality.

In my personal dating experience the more conservative men I would meet would be very secretive about their sexuality, uncomfortable discussing it, and preferred a more binary perspective on sexual roles. I generally found these men very boring to date because what fun is it to just be stuck in sexuality as a very transactional task-oriented activity?

The more liberal minded men tended to be less stuck on having a label or role, an openness to kinks, but not necessarily a commitment to them, and just a generally open-minded attitude towards sexuality, gender, and therefore politics.

This might simply come down to personality differences. I know lots of gay men who believe in very binary relationship roles and it works for them (they also tend to be extremely uh... conservative on economic issues and are generally Democrats due to the social pressure to be gay and a Democrat). And I know lots of gays who are just less stuck on labels or roles and tend to be extremely progressive.

I think what is fascinating is how much the LGBTQ hatred of Republicans has really harmed they opportunities to win over the more moderate / conservative queer voter. Lots of these people exist but I think they are really turned off by the extreme rhetoric on queer issues even if they might agree on other issues like taxes, policing, Israel, etc.

A bit off topic but this reminds me a lot of black voters - polling suggests on policy there is a pretty large cohort of black voters who hold moderate or conservative views, but social networks and social pressures combined with Republican’s problems have really kept the group so overwhelmingly D for the past few decades. Even today if you look at black Republicans, they are disproportionately likely to mainly operate in whiter social circles and likely don’t have the same sort of social pressures  to support Ds many other blacks do.

I wonder if simillar logic holds for lgbtq folks. Are lgbtq people whose social circles are more straight/cis more likely to back Republicans?

[Atlas Force]

That pimp in Nevada who won a state legislative race despite dying a few weeks before the election was running as a Republican (which is how he won in the first place - the district he was running in was so red it would rather - and did - elect a dead Republican over a living Democrat).

[MarkD]

If a person is stupid enough to believe that they have to be ideologically pure, that being moderate makes no sense to them, then perhaps they think if they're liberal about sexuality issues, then they've gotta be liberal about everything.

That pimp in Nevada who won a state legislative race despite dying a few weeks before the election was running as a Republican (which is how he won in the first place - the district he was running in was so red it would rather - and did - elect a dead Republican over a living Democrat).

I take it you haven't heard about the US Senate election in Missouri, in which Democrat Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash a few weeks before the election, defeated incumbent Republican John Ashcroft?