Coming out in America: thirty years of cultural change

Raquel Fernández, Sahar Parsa and Martina Viarengo

The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 2025, vol. 41, issue 2, 757-821

Abstract: The last few decades witnessed a dramatic change in public opinion toward gay people. We show that this process was initiated by a sharp increase in the approval of same-sex relationships in 1992–93, following the debate on whether gay people could serve openly in the military. We study the hypothesis that the greater salience of gay-related issues during this period initiated a process of cultural change. Using a difference-in-difference empirical strategy, we show that greater exposure to the gay population, measured in a variety of ways, led to a greater increase in approval. Furthermore, media attention and campaign contributions increased by more in high exposure locations. Our results, we show, cannot be explained simply by a process of expanding liberal views of civil liberties.

Date: 2025
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