UC Riverside

This dissertations examines gay participation in anti-gay institutions, notably the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party. Using a comparative ethnographic approach, I explore Dignity, a group for gay Roman Catholics, and the Log Cabin Republicans, a group for gay Republicans to understand how members cope with dual marginalization they encounter in both the Church/Republican Party and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Community. I demonstrate that the participants in these groups are simultaneously members of dominant and subordinate populations that draw on their racial, gender, and class based privilege to deal with the marginalization they experience. Accordingly, this dissertation shows how systems of inequality are replicated within the LGBT Community and within the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party.