Document Type
Article
Abstract
Part I of this Article explores lesbian and gay interests and representational characteristics. Part II highlights the inadequacies of a single-member districting system in representing the interests of lesbian and gay communities. It concludes with an examination of the New York City Council's 1991 redistricting, where the mobilization of strong lesbian and gay communities in a receptive environment nonetheless failed to lead to effective representation of lesbian and gay interests in the City Council. Part III describes proportional representation systems and reveals how such systems would better serve lesbian and gay communities. Part IV acknowledges the political and legal obstacles to achieving proportional representation. Finally, Part V asserts that both the increasing disenfranchisement of people of color from the electoral process and the high degree of discontent with the system that has been expressed by the general electorate in recent years might facilitate the conversion to a proportional system. To promote a proportional representation system, lesbian and gay communities must form coalitions with other minority communities that remain underrepresented in a districting system. By struggling with others to achieve interest representation, lesbians and gay men will be engaged in the furtherance of a much broader goal of proportional representation--namely, the realization of a more complete democracy.
Recommended Citation
Darren Rosenblum, Geographically Sexual?: Advancing Lesbian and Gay Interests Through Proportional Representation, 31 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 119 (1996), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/208/.