2020 Bailey Award

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Caucus of the American Political Science Association is pleased to announce Dr. Andrew Flores as the winner of the 2020 Bailey Award for his paper titled “Mediated Contact and Selective Exposure: Transgender Topics on Mass Media and Public Attitudes.”

In this paper, Dr. Flores uses an experimental methodology to test the “mediated exposure hypothesis,” or the proposition that “representations of marginalized groups in mass media” can facilitate reductions in “out-group prejudices,” with respect to attitudes toward transgender people. Using a patient preference trial, Dr. Flores finds, with some limitations, that “representations of transgender people and rights in the context of satirical news increases tolerance for gender nonconformity and support for transgender rights.”  

Of the many impressive submissions received, the award committee selected Dr. Flores’ work for its important contribution to the study of public opinion, impressive research design and methodological implementation, and novel findings. As Dr. Flores notes, the political experiences of transgender people are unique from sexual minorities and more research is needed that centers transgender politics. In addition, Dr. Flores’ findings contribute to our understanding of public opinion formation and the conditions under which media representations of transgender people can affect positive attitudinal change.

The LGBTQ Caucus would also like to thank the members of the award committee who volunteered their time to review the submissions. R.G. Cravens (Chair), Assistant Professor of Political Science, California Polytechnic State University, Jeff Feng, Ph.D. candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara, Joanna Wuest, Fund for Reunion-Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society of Fellows, Princeton University, and Andrew Proctor, Presidential Postdoctoral Associate, University of Minnesota.

The LGBTQ Caucus of the American Political Science Association bestows the Bailey Award every year on an exceptional paper on LGBTQ issues presented at the previous year’s annual meeting. The paper may have been presented at a panel sponsored by ANY division or group at the 2020 APSA annual meeting. The award is named after the late Robert Bailey, author of the landmark book, Gay Politics, Urban Politics (Columbia University Press, 1999).