Gay Rights Interest Groups

     The issue of gay rights hasn’t been associated with a concrete iron triangle because the topic has largely been left to the states so far. Plus, the strong, opposing views would probably not be able to work together effectively. Even though the opposing interests would cancel each other out in an iron triangle, special interest group money definitely plays a huge role in federal politics regarding this issue. The majority of the money contributed to this issue is directed to promoting gay rights, rather than protecting traditional ideas of marriage. Thus, the Democrats receive a much larger portion of the contributions than the Republicans.

The Human Rights Campaign has become the most influential gay rights interest group. They gave a total of $1,104,128 in contributions and $1,370,000 for lobbying in 2012. As interest groups generally focus their lobbying efforts on supporters, their top candidate recipients in Congress are mostly Democrats. Interestingly though, the incumbents didn’t receive significantly more money than did the non-incumbents. 

     Also, looking at the contribution trend from 1990, there was a spike in the average contribution to both chambers of congress in 2004 and 2012. The data again demonstrates that the Democrats receive significantly more contributions that the Republicans.

Though the HRC plays the more influential role in the issue of gay rights, the interest groups against gay marriage, often associated with religion, also make contributions to their own supporters. For example, the National Organization for Marriage contributed about $2 million from Roman Catholic Churches to oppose same-sex marriage in one election cycle. However, with $1,100 in contributions and $80,000 for lobbying in 2012, the money NOM has given to oppose gay rights is much less than the amount given by HRC to promote them.  

Works Cited

"Gay & Lesbian Rights & Issues." Opensecrets RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?cycle=2014>.

"Gay & Lesbian Rights & Issues: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups." Opensecrets RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?cycle=2014>.

Gay Marriage Cartoons OLD. Digital image. US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/photos/gay-marriage-cartoons/26>.

"Human Rights Campaign: Recipients | OpenSecrets." Human Rights Campaign: Recipients | OpenSecrets. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000158>.