This dissertation research addresses the question of how individuals with potentially conflicting identities manage to participate in a social movement built around those discordant identities. Specifically, what frames or messages do social movement organizations that can be utilized by movement participants in order to ameliorate moments of identity conflict and thus sustain movement participation? To date, these relationships have not been explicitly examined by scholars of social movements or by social psychologists interested in movement identities. In order to understand how organizations influence identity conflicts among their members, the co-PI will study the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), an organization composed of gay conservatives -- two identities not typically associated. A preliminary content analysis of LCR websites and public interviews shows that LCR chapters are using at least 20 different frames to reconcile homosexuality and Republicanism. The co-PI argues that these frames allow LCR members to overcome the difficulties of being conservative and gay in America, and that LCR framing efforts are essential to the identity management undertaken by the chapters to maintain their constituencies. Data will be collected through in-depth interviews with approximately 80 LCR chapter members in Atlanta, Chicago, and Nashville. These interviews are designed to elicit information about experiences of identity conflicts among constituents and whether/how LCR framing efforts help to reduce those conflicts. This dissertation will contribute to the social movement literature by bridging the discussions of organizational framing and identity. By examining the characteristics of organizational frames and frame articulators, we can more accurately evaluate which movement groups are likely to garner support. This research will provide evidence of what type of framing processes and frame characteristics most successfully reduce identity conflicts among a constituency as well as illustrate how individuals utilize organizational messages to overcome potentially conflicting identities.
In addition to the theoretical contributions, there are broader impacts of this research. The study will produce a unique data set that includes information not previously examined by social movement researchers. This data set will be available to other scholars so that they may continue in this vein of research. The research will also provide a new perspective for undergraduate students in any classes on gender, sexuality and/or social movements.
